Regulation of Travel Agents and Tourist Guides (2013/03/20)

MR YIU SI-WING: In the past, there had been many complaints involving the reception of Mainland tours, including the "3A" incident, and some of them involved the responsibility of Mainland travel agents. However, the regulatory bodies in Hong Kong can only regulate the Hong Kong tourist agents and cannot rectify the problems of the Mainland travel agents. This is unfair to local travel agents. Has the Government promptly reflected this problem to the CNTA or other relevant authorities to seek a way to plug the loophole?

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: I thank Mr YIU Si-wing for his opinion. To combat the irregularities involving inbound Mainland tours, we cannot work alone. We have to communicate with the relevant Mainland authorities, and joint efforts on both sides are needed. I have also mentioned in the main reply that in 2011, the Tourism Commission of the HKSAR Government jointly promulgated with the CNTA a document to prescribe the key points that must be included in the contract between Mainland travel agents organizing group tours and the Hong Kong travel agents receiving the groups, including the clear stipulation of the duty and obligation of both the Mainland travel agents that organize the group tours and their tour escorts, and that of the Hong Kong travel agents receiving the groups and their tour guides. This task takes the co-operation of both sides.

The HKSAR Government has all along maintained close co-operation with the CNTA and other regional tourism authorities. Should problems be found involving the Mainland travel agents in the process, our regulatory body will work together with the Mainland tourism authorities. Take the "3A" incident as an example. After the HKSAR Government and CNTA had exchanged information, the Mainland tourism authorities followed up promptly and conveyed initial findings to Hong Kong within a short time span to facilitate the investigation in Hong Kong. Concerning the "3A" incident which involved Mainland tourists being forced to spend the night in the coach, the Guangdong tourism authority responded on 16 February 2013 and promptly advised that the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism had confirmed that they did not have the records of the group of tourist leaving for Hong Kong. As far as we understand, the incident is still under investigation by the CNTA and Mainland tourism authorities, and we will continue to follow up. This is a good example which shows that it takes the co-operation of both sides to combat illegal activities.