Opinion | Scrapping multiple-entry permits would allow Hong Kong to breathe again
Albert Cheng urges a return to the original, more stringent design of the individual visit scheme, given the vastly changed circumstances
The local retail industry has mounted a campaign to keep the individual visit scheme intact, but its economic arguments to continue to allow vast numbers of mainland visitors to come to Hong Kong do not seem to resonate with the general public.
First implemented in 2003, the scheme was hailed as a panacea for our ailing economy in the wake of the severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak. Mainlanders' purchasing power resuscitated our tourism, retail and related sectors.
Yet, more than a decade down the road, the side effects of the influx of mainlanders can be seen, as social and cultural conflicts with local residents dominate the headlines.
Three-quarters of the 54.3 million visitors to Hong Kong last year were from the mainland. The vast majority travelled under the individual visit scheme, which enables residents of 49 major Chinese cities to come here as individual travellers instead of in tour groups or on business visas.
Mainland visitors under this scheme are permitted to remain in Hong Kong for up to seven days upon each entry. In 2009, Beijing relaxed the arrangement for eligible residents with Shenzhen household registration to apply for multiple-entry endorsements, and in 2010, some non-Guangdong residents in Shenzhen also became eligible for such permits.
The multiple-entry provision has boosted the number of frequent visitors who see Hong Kong as little more than a supermarket and a place for inexpensive recreation.