Jake's View | Time to revisit the so-called benefits of tourism
Little of the spending by tourists on shopping and travel goes into pockets of city residents
For decades, tourism has been one of the four pillars of the economy.
Let's be glad that a three-legged stool offers as secure a perch as a four-legged one. It wouldn't be wise to put much weight on Mr Tien's fourth of tourism.
We shall start with his claim that tourism receipts amounted to HK$263 billion last year. From this we can immediately deduct HK$52 billion in international transport costs for tourists. We, the people of Hong Kong, own no airlines, passenger ships or cross-border bus companies and we do not get any of this money.
I remind you here that Cathay Pacific Airways is not Hong Kong's airline - it is the Swire Group's airline. Mainland corporate interests also have a stake in it but the Hong Kong government does not and I would be surprised if Hong Kong residents owned more than 10 per cent of the beneficial interest.
You might say that we benefit from spending on air tickets through our airport revenues but here is the airport's dark little secret for you: it only just breaks even on air operations. All of its earnings really come from the shopping mall and other commercial operations.