Letters to the Editor, April 27, 2014
Hong Kong is renowned as a shopping and food paradise capable of offering every tourist a unique experience. However, this increasingly appears not to be the case as more tourists visit Hong Kong solely to shop at large malls or spend their days at amusement parks.
Retail focus limits tourism industry
Hong Kong is renowned as a shopping and food paradise capable of offering every tourist a unique experience. However, this increasingly appears not to be the case as more tourists visit Hong Kong solely to shop at large malls or spend their days at amusement parks.
While tourism is one of Hong Kong’s main sources of GDP, and the bulk of mainland tourists enjoy visiting large malls to purchase luxury goods, it appears that, through plans for further land resumption and development of larger shopping malls, the government is focusing too heavily on the expansion of retail-based tourism at the expense of all other options.
Hong Kong has many cultural and heritage sites that it could proudly promote to visitors from all around the world, particularly those from outside mainland China.
In the past, many buildings of historical significance in Hong Kong have simply been redeveloped rather than renovated and turned into tourist attractions.
Although it is ultimately the visitor’s decision how they spend their time in Hong Kong, the government has a responsibility to keep all attractions in good condition and to actively promote them to tourists, offering them an alternative experience.
By devoting all resources to the development of retail services, the government is limiting the sustainability and longevity of the tourism industry and creating an over dependence on retail-based tourism.