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One-stop app, more focus on harbour: leading Hong Kong think tank unveils broad plan to sharpen city’s tourism edge
- Our Hong Kong Foundation puts forward 14 suggestions to lure more people to city, including eased tourist visa rules for mainland visitors and reduced charges on airlines
- Group also calls for rethinking how Hong Kong uses celebrities, culture and Victoria Harbour to brand itself
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Hong Kong should urge the central government to relax its visa arrangements to entice more mainland Chinese and boost the city’s “single journey, multi-stop” allure while sharpening its tourism edge, a leading think tank has said.
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The suggestion was one of 14 made by Our Hong Kong Foundation to resuscitate the tourism industry as the city struggles with a slow pace of recovery and competition with Greater Bay Area rivals for consumer dollars.
“The recovery of Hong Kong’s tourism and retail industry has been unsatisfactory as it has yet to be restored to the pre-pandemic levels,” said Ryan Ip Man-ki, the foundation’s vice-president and co-head of research.
“The industry is in the grip of several challenges, namely tourists’ unwillingness to come due to travel hurdles, their reluctance to stay overnight due to price hikes and disorganised events, and their loss of interest in coming back again due to the city’s lack of novelty.”
Hong Kong last year welcomed 34 million visitors, 17 million of whom stayed overnight. That compares with 65 million, of whom 29 million stayed overnight, recorded in 2018.
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