Currently, 49 mostly tier-1 and tier-2 city residents are allowed to travel as individual tourists rather than in a group, thanks to the scheme first launched in 2003.
In a bid to reduced conflicts with local residents, the Hong Kong government will not open the city’s individual visit scheme to more mainland cities, says Commerce Secretary Greg So Kam-leung, according to a story in the South China Morning Post.
Currently, 49 mostly tier-1 and tier-2 city residents are allowed to travel as individual tourists rather than in a group, thanks to the scheme first launched in 2003.
“Since the individual visit scheme was changed to one visit per week in April last year, the number of mainland visitors has gone down… Hong Kong retailers and restaurants have been affected,” said Sin Chung-kai of the Democratic Party.
The Tourism Board has reported that mainland visitor numbers in February of this year decreased 26%.
However, So explained, “We have to avoid letting too many visitors come to Hong Kong, which would affect residents’ daily lives. We don’t want conflicts to emerge.”
Instead the government will focus on other markets, spending around HK$380 million on promoting tourism with a large proportion of the budget allocated to attracting short-haul travellers.
“There’s a big potential for growth in short-haul markets. We hope to see more overseas visitors who would stay overnight come to Hong Kong,” said So.
“It doesn’t matter where they are from,” commented Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yao-chung. “As long as they are willing to come and spend money in Hong Kong, we welcome them.”