Dai pai dong may serve up Hong Kong's unique flavour but tourism authorities seem concerned their poor hygiene might put off tourists.
At a meeting of tourism, public health and hygiene officials to discuss the possible policy change to preserve Hong Kong's remaining 30 dai pai dong, assistant commissioner for tourism Winifred Chung Mak Suet-mui said they were not a major tourist attraction.
'We only promote major attractions such as The Peak and Stanley. Scattered dai pai dong cannot form a reason to draw tourists.
'In some Tourism Board promotional materials written in foreign languages, 'dai pai dong' does not exist any more because they are being phased out. Most of them have poor hygiene quality and we don't want tourists to feel that Hong Kong isn't a clean place. Public health and hygiene are the most important,' Mrs Chung said.
She said the Tourism Board did recommend experiencing local eating culture such as wonton noodles and traditional milk tea.
'We understand that dai pai dong has a Hong Kong flavour but we don't promote [particular goods or services] unless it's a good-quality tourism product.'