Secretary for  Commerce and Economic Development to speak for the motion of Hon. Yiu Si Wing (Introduction)

We have all along attached greatimportance to the development of the tourism industry in Hong Kong. The fact that 10 amendments are proposed to this motion today reflects the weight givenby Members to this motion. Tourism is a major industry of Hong Kong, accounting for 4.5% of the Gross Domestic Product. Employing a workforce accounting for 6.6% of the total working population in Hong Kong, the tourism industry brings considerable economic benefits and employment opportunities for us.

We understand that Rome is not builtin one day. Hong Kong can develop into a world-class destination for leisure and business tourists not only because of our characteristics of being a meeting point of the East and West and our sceneries as a metropolis. It is also attributed to our sound infrastructure facilities, convenient transport networks and services,and good law and order, coupled with a great variety of events, cuisines and goods as well as quality and professional services consistently on offer to tourists.I believe Members have many friends from the Mainland and overseas countries who have spent their holiday in Hong Kong, and when they sum up the experience of their stay in Hong Kong, they will tell you that Hong Kong is veryconvenient, very safe, a place of great fun with a plethora of shopping optionsand wide choices of delicacies, very comfortable, and a place where highly professional services are offered. This achievement is indeed the result of the concerted efforts made by the Government, the tourism sector and even all members of the public in joining hands to overcome all challenges over the years.

In spite of this, competition is ever intensifying in the tourism industry in the Asia Pacific Region in recen tyears. The neighbouring regions have, one after another, injected huge amounts of resources into the development of new tourism facilities, organization of major international events, and conduct of extensive publicity and promotional campaigns to attract tourists. But against this backdrop, the tourism industryof Hong Kong has continued to be thriving. As Members have pointed out, the number of inbound visitors reached a new high of $48.6 million in 2012, proof that the tourism industry has remained competitive. As reflected by the viewsof inbound tourists collected in surveys done by the Hong Kong Tourism Board,the satisfaction rate of tourists has consistently remained at a high level.Certainly, we must make ongoing efforts to speed up the pace of development on various fronts and with greater diversification.

To this end, we are taking forward the next phase of expansion of the Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park,developing more diversified cruise tourism products, organizing major eventsand promoting the development of ancillary facilities for tourism, such ashotels, through a multi-pronged approach. We will, of course, also promote our beautiful sceneries and historical monuments to tourists and encourage tourist sto explore different districts of the territory. This will promote visitor flowand tourist spending in the districts, while helping to ease the flow of people in traditional tourism districts, so that the proceeds from tourism can benefit various sectors and strata of the community as much as possible. A number of Members have expressed views in this respect earlier on.

In the long term, we are actively making preparations for the introduction of a new regulatory regime for thetourism industry, conducting an assessment on the overall visitor carrying and receiving capacity of Hong Kong, as well as studying in depth and proposing forward-looking policies and other ancillary measures required for supporting the development of the tourism industry.

Deputy President, I would like to listen to other views of Members on this motion before giving a detailed response later on.

Thank you, Deputy President.