One of the world's leading travel research firms has been hired to take a reasoned look at how Hong Kong's tourist industry can be revitalised.
Dr Stanley Plog, founder and chief executive of Plog Research, has already been to Hong Kong for an initial briefing by the Hong Kong Tourist Association. He will be back next month to begin detailed investigations aimed at illustrating the way ahead.
His appointment follows months of soul-searching and hard work by HKTA staff and others involved in the industry.
He seems an obvious choice. A guru to the international tourism industry, he has been by turns a trombonist, clinical psychologist and university professor. He then moved into business as a behavioural scientist specialising in solutions to marketing problems.
After setting up his own company in 1974, he began to specialise in travel and communications businesses. Dr Plog's client list is like a Who's Who of global tourism. He has worked for two dozen airlines, including Cathay Pacific, major car rental companies and five-star international hotel groups.
But it is as Dr Destination that he is most renowned. He examines a troubled tourist spot - a beach resort, a city, a convention centre or an entire country - then advises on improvements. Customers have included tourism bodies and governments from Israel to Tahiti and the State of Nebraska.
His definitive guide book to 100 destinations, Vacation Places Rated, looks at holiday places from three different viewpoints, judges what various sorts of people like, and then awards values. Not all travellers are the same. Some want everything to be just like home while others are keen to savour the real flavour of places they visit.