Measures to Attract Mainland Visitors to Hong Kong  (2016/05/18)

MR YIU SI-WING: Deputy President, as we all know, the Shanghai Disneyland will open in June, while the Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai has already opened earlier on. It is expected that these two new attractions will, in addition to impacting on the number of visitors to Hong Kong's two major tourist attractions, further dampen the number of Mainland visitors to Hong Kong,
especially overnight visitors.

I note from the Government's main reply that preparation is being made to promote the "Hong Kong Halloween Treats" and the "Hong Kong Arts Month" in the East China region; whereas in the Central, East and South China (non-Guangdong) regions, efforts will be made to promote the "Wine and Dine Month" and the "Winterfest". As regards the Guangdong province, efforts will be focused on promoting cruise tourism. But then, all these are actually ongoing promotions that have been launched in the past few years. Faced with the new challenges, I have yet to see any new initiatives from the authorities or the HKTB to attract more visitors, especially overnight visitors from the East China region and the Guangdong Province. Will the authorities introduce new and targeted initiatives in this regard, so as to boost the industry's confidence by letting them know that there is better development ahead?

UNDER SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Deputy President, thanks to Mr YIU for the supplementary question. To enhance Hong Kong's attractiveness and competitiveness, the Financial Secretary announced in the 2016-2017 Budget speech that $240 million would be set aside for Government and the industry to jointly launch five measures to support tourism and increase Hong Kong's attractiveness as a tourist destination. First, the authorities will expand the scale of major events to be held this year, including the "Wine and Dine Month", and publicity will also be stepped up. Second, we will support the HKTB's initiatives to re-package Hong Kong's tourism image with new promotional videos and to launch a new round of publicity for short-haul markets in Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and the Mainland. Third, we will assist the industry to open up new visitor sources through various means, including the continued implementation of the matching fund for promoting tourist attractions, promotion of MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) tourism and "fly-cruise" tours, and so on. Fourth, through the TICHK, we will subsidize small and medium-sized travel agents on a matching basis to make use of information technology. Fifth, we will continue to promote Hong Kong's natural scenery as well as our unique history and culture, including enriching the contents of the Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail.

MR YIU SI-WING: The Under Secretary has not answered my question directly. My question is that in view of the recent opening of the Ocean Kingdom in the Guangdong Province and the forthcoming opening of the Disneyland in the East China Region, have the authorities introduced any initiatives with special focus on these two regions? The measures he mentioned just now are all general ones.


UNDER SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Thanks to Mr YIU for the follow-up question. In fact, the point raised in Mr YIU's question has already been covered by the main reply I gave a moment ago. Various initiatives relating to promotion and publicity in the East China Region have already been included in the HKTB's work plan for the coming year.