Stop driving Chinese visitors away, tourism chief warns
Tourism chief says that if hostility continues, mainlanders might turn their backs on city and head for Paris – and we’ll be all the poorer for it
Hong Kong could become "very dull" if the backlash against mainland tourists continues - and they might just spend their cash in Paris instead, the city's tourism chief warned yesterday.
Tourism Board chairman James Tien Pei-chun said it was "sandwiched" between rising anti-mainland sentiment and its mandate to promote tourism.
While its tourism campaign on the mainland remained unaffected for now by recent protests over cross-border parallel traders, he said the board was concerned about their impact.
"If there is too much noise about this anti-mainland sentiment and mainlanders stop coming here, Hong Kong will become very dull. Don't forget that nowadays these mainland tourists can easily go to Paris to shop instead," Tien said.
He added that there was also uncertainty about the annual influx of 800,000 business travellers from the mainland - who are usually more willing to spend money - after Beijing's recent move to curb extravagance by officials.
Tourism, Tien said, was the city's only pillar industry with sustained growth. Spending by tourists reached HK$305 billion last year, up 16.5 per cent. Overnight visitor numbers also increased, by 6.5 per cent.