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- May 19, 2013
- Updated: 7:25pm
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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
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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.
And this growth was being driven by mainland tourists. Of the 48 million arrivals, 70 per cent, or 34 million, were from the mainland - up 24 per cent from 2011. Of those, 66 per cent were solo travellers.
The Tourism Board was among those behind the solo visitor scheme for mainland travellers - an arrangement now being blamed for problems such as cross-border parallel traders, who are accused of buying up stocks of infant milk formula and driving up shop rents.
Labour Party lawmaker Cyd Ho Sau-lan told the security panel meeting in the Legislative Council yesterday: "These tourists are destroying our local culture. What degree of social chaos will it take for the government to do away with these permits?"
But Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok sidestepped the call. "Hong Kong has always been a city of tourism. We welcome people from all over the world," Lai said, adding that the government "understands" the limited capacity to accommodate tourists.
Earlier yesterday, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Greg So Kam-leung said a review of tourism infrastructure was under way - and the findings would be communicated to Beijing. But he dodged calls from lawmakers to set up a shopping zone near the border.
Tien said that such a zone would not get the support of customs officials in Shenzhen.
And he would not say whether he plans to step down as chairman when his term ends on March 31. He has been elected chairman of the legislature's economic development panel and said he could not hold both roles.
After reading this article, people also read
11:35pm
I consider myself to be a Hong Kong person. I do not work in the tourist industry but I am sure that I would earn less if we did not have tourists from other parts of China. We asked them to come here and help us to overcome our economic difficulties. The Central Government obliged and implemented policies which we desired.
The tourists from elsewhere in China are on the whole precisely that - tourists. Surely we want visitors to our city to be happy, to laugh, to show excitement at our attractions and to be eager to spend money. They are here to have a holiday and have fun, not to be castigated for not behaving as though they are on their way to work, nor for not being Hong Kong people.
I feel that the behaviour of some Hong Kong people to our visitors from other parts of China is disgraceful. I do not feel that the behaviour of people from other parts of China is in any way as bad as that put forward by some bigots on these pages.
Buying milk powder, as we now know, is a business that has just as many Hong Kong people involved as others. Not to mention Mannings and Watsons, etc. cashing in as well. But this is not tourism.
11:09pm
7:02pm
9:31am
7:57pm
Firstly, James Tien stated on previous occasions that each Chinese visitor who enters Hong Kong spends $6000.
Reality, a few visitors between 3-5%, with large amounts of cash, often from questionable sources, boost the average. Then there are the parallel traders who also boost the average. The average genuine visitor spends an average of less than $1000.
Number two: Who has benefited from those people investing large sums of money in Hong Kong real estate, as mentioned much of the money is of questionable origin.
Answer: The richest people in Hong Kong, that's who. Along with the benefit of selling more homes, the prices have gone up increasing their profits. The rising prices have meant that food and nearly everything else has also gone up in price. But those of us who are serving these rude visitors haven't have a significant increase in pay. Try making ends meet on the salary of a working man in Hong Kong.
A message to James, don't stand around on the footbridges during the next election asking for our votes while you insult our intelligence through the media with your obscure and misleading data.
8:50am
Based upon my own as well many others experience, Westerners, especially well educated Europeans, despise Hong Kongeses' demeanor as arrogantly loud, noisy and drawing out their accent like frail little birds. In general, they give Asians a bad name and ugly stereotype. However, peculiarly enough, the Hong Kongese themselves feel arrogantly superior, just like the Indians, as if being the old British colonizers little poodles somehow elevates them above other more genuine Asians. In fact, many ignorant Hong Kongese feel downright white and entitled.
The fact the matter is people all over the world respect self-reliance, courage, independence and actual power and might whether financial, military, political, intellectual, physical sports, etc. China's accomplishments are monumental, heretofore unparalleled in human history. Hong Kong's sing-song, plastic, celluloid, hypocritically self-promoting culture is what make some Chinese being perceived as perenially week and second-class in Westerner's eyes.
Free speech is one thing, but venomous diarrhea of trash, pettiness, hateful blame, perverse intellectualization and jealousy does nothing but hurt Hong Kongese.
JenniePCChiang/江佩珍 美國
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