Hong Kong people are good at dealing with a crisis. We have a strong, seemingly innate, ability to remain positive in the face of challenging circumstances and to turn adversity to advantage. We demonstrated that ability during the Asian economic downturn in 1997. We proved it again in the 2003 Sars crisis. And we have shown it repeatedly in scores of smaller crises.
As the new chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, one challenge I faced was the scandal over some shops ripping off mainland tourists that broke just ahead of the annual Labour Day 'golden week' holiday, threatening to dent tourist arrivals.
What would have been a calamity for our tourism was averted. There were 886,674 visitors, up 22 per cent on the same period last year, and more than 60 per cent were from the mainland. No one knows exactly how we escaped a slump. Perhaps we overestimated the mainland reaction to the negative reports on CCTV. Perhaps people decided they would not be put off visiting Hong Kong, but would be cautious.
However, part of the reason was the positive way Hong Kong reacted and the decisive action taken leading up to 'golden week'. We neither shut our eyes, nor attempted to deny anything was wrong. Instead, we acknowledged the fault, rallied and did our best to fix it before any lasting damage was inflicted. Our government announced it would do all it could to tackle the problem. Police and customs officials acted swiftly against rogue shops. And the travel industry assured mainland visitors Hong Kong remained safe and tourist-friendly.
We pulled out all the stops to counter our damaged reputation so that any outsiders could see our city was determined to combat a dishonest handful, and was not a destination where cheating is commonplace.
It is too early, of course, to know if any long-term harm has been done to Hong Kong's reputation. We must remain vigilant against rogue shops and continually look at ways to boost our appeal to tourists.