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Tourism
OpinionLetters

Letters | Covid-19 crisis shows why Hong Kong must overhaul its tourism industry

  • Use pandemic relief to encourage travel agencies showing innovation and adaptability, such as by subsidising local tours, but refrain from using travel compensation fund to prop up agencies
  • Hong Kong tourism must focus less on a single market and be less dependent on commission-based shopping

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Boats run along Tai O creek, off Hong Kong’s Lantau Island, in January. The Tai O fishing village is famous for its traditional Chinese stilt-house community. Credit: Martin Williams
Letters
Given the double whammy of prolonged protests and Covid-19, Hong Kong’s travel industry in particular is facing unprecedented challenges. Most tour guides I spoke to had not received a single guest in six months; some in almost a year. Many agencies have shut down.
Since March, a series of subsidies have been offered by the government: from a one-off subsidy of HK$80,000 (US$10,320) for each registered travel agency, to the more recent payment of up to HK$200,000. Agency staff and accredited tour guides have also been offered financial respite, albeit minimal.
With the city seeing no tourists due to border restrictions, the Hong Kong Tourism Board has sought to entice locals with special offers and staycation ideas through its HolidayHK platform. Several tour operators have also taken this route, focusing on local tourism – a great opportunity to explore our backyard, no doubt.

03:07

When can we travel? Hong Kong companies aim to get Asia’s tourists safely moving amid pandemic

When can we travel? Hong Kong companies aim to get Asia’s tourists safely moving amid pandemic
Meanwhile, however, news of efforts to repurpose the Travel Industry Compensation Fund, as publicly suggested by Freddy Yip of Goldjoy Travel, should be of concern to us.
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The fund, which stands at some HK$660 million, was established in 1993 and comprises a small tariff levied on tourists going on outbound tours from the city. It was designed to protect the traveller from agency defaults and compensate for certain expenses incurred by death or injury on tour. It was not designed to protect those agencies from bankruptcy.

While the temptation is understandable during these taxing times, a repurposing of even half of these reserves may not go far enough to save some agencies. It is also questionable how much would go towards the frontline staff most affected by this crisis.

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Rather, we should exercise long-term thinking and focus on structural changes to the industry. We should be less focused on a single market; less dependent on commission-based shopping.

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