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Ambrose Leung

Gary Cheung

HK industries see economic boon as more mainland travellers visit the city

Hong Kong's economy will receive another boost when immigration rules for mainland tourists are relaxed for six cities in Guangdong from tomorrow.

They will join a  list of 10 mainland cities which are already part of the individual visit scheme.

Making the announcement yesterday, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa thanked the central and Guangdong provincial governments for the continuing support they had shown towards Hong Kong.

The tourism industry welcomed the latest concession, made after a series of trade and other support measures by Beijing, saying the scheme would benefit it and other sectors such as retailing, transport, catering and services industries.

Under the new plan, the scheme  will be extended to Shantou, Chaozhou, Meizhou, Zhaoqing, Qingyuan and Yunfu, from tomorrow.

The scheme now allows residents of 10 cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Jiangmen, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Zhuhai, Shenzhen and Huizhou - to visit Hong Kong as individuals, rather than as tour group members, if they are permanently registered in these cities.

Permit holders  can stay in Hong Kong for seven days on each visit.

A government spokesman said sufficient staff would be on duty at immigration control points in view of the expected increase in tourists. 'We welcome the extension of the individual visit scheme to other Guangdong cities which will further benefit local tourism, the retail and other related industries,' he said.

The spokesman said the Hong Kong Tourism Board had been intensifying promotion campaigns for visitors to local attractions such as shopping and dining sites.

More than 650,000 mainland tourists have visited Hong Kong under the scheme since July, spending more than $3.5 billion. The scheme will be open to all residents in Guangdong from May 1.

Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung said the extension of the scheme to residents in the six cities would further improve Hong Kong's retail market and economy.

He expected more than half a million residents from these cities to apply for individual travel permits in the next six months.

Mr Tung said about 1.5 million people from eight cities in Guangdong had obtained the permits to visit Hong Kong as individual travellers since the restrictions were lifted in July. 'Local sightseeing tours targeting mainland travellers have increased by 30 per cent in the past six months,' he said.



Six cities in Guangdong join solo tourist list