Can Hong Kong’s dining, retail, taxi services learn to be polite? What can they copy from Singapore’s courtesy campaigns? Analysts say training matters
- City’s newly launched ‘Let’s go the Extra Mile’ campaign to promote better hospitality is step in right direction, experts comparing city with rival Singapore say
- Residents and industry players need to learn how to make being polite part of their social DNA, analysts say
Hong Kong’s courtesy campaigns must include proper education for residents and extended training for industry players on how to make being polite part of their social DNA, analysts assessing the city’s history and rival Singapore have said.
Hong Kong has recorded a significant rebound in arrivals since cross-boundary travel resumed in early 2023, with the numbers surging by 154 per cent year on year to 11.23 million in the first quarter of 2024.
Last year, Hong Kong received 34 million visitors, compared with 55.9 million in 2019 and 65.1 million in 2018.
While the government has made strides in making Hong Kong more attractive to tourists with a string of mega events, challenges remain when it comes to enhancing visitors’ travel experience.
Mainland Chinese visitors’ concerns of brusque treatment at some restaurants as well as poor service by some cabbies are popular topics on Instagram-like mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu, or Little Red Book.
In a bid to improve the bad reputation, authorities launched the “Let’s go the Extra Mile” campaign on Monday.