CURRENT PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

With its convenient airlinks to the rest of the world, unique attractions and its role as the gateway to China, Hong Kong continues to be the most popular tourist and visitor destination in Asia. In 1995,

• Total gross tourism receipts were over $72 billion, representing some 7% of the Gross Domestic Product. Some 77?00 people were employed in jobs dedicated to serving visitors/tourists, and another 274 000 in jobs related to services for visitors/tourists.

• The number of visitors broke the 10 million mark, reaching an all-time high of 10.2 million.

• Some 70% of the visitors came from neighbouring areas, notably China (22%), Taiwan (18%), Japan (16%) and South-east Asia (12%).

• There were 86 hotels in Hong Kong providing over 33?00 rooms.

Closely related to tourism are convention and exhibition services. They draw to Hong Kong many business travellers with high spending power and who bring valuable business opportunities. The staging of major conventions and exhibitions also strengthens Hong Kong's position as the premier business centre in the Asia-Pacific region.

• 471 conventions with international participation were held in Hong Kong in 1994. Of these, about 40% were association meetings and the rest corporate meetings. The average number of delegates for each meeting was 103.

• Among international meetings recognised by the Union of International Association that took place in Asia, 7.7% (over 90 meetings) were hosted in Hong Kong in 1994. This made Hong Kong the second most popular convention venue in the region after Singapore.

• 59 exhibitions with foreign participation were held in Hong Kong in 1994. The average number of overseas participants for each exhibition was 2?98.

• The average per capita expenditure for overseas participants who came to Hong Kong for a convention or exhibition was $22,000 in 1994, approximately three times that of a vacation visitor.

• Utilisation of the exhibition halls at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC) was 67% in 1995, compared with 51% in 1990, reflecting Hong Kong's growing popularity as a venue for large-scale trade shows.

• Both the HKCEC and the recently opened International Trademart are first-class exhibition venues.

THE GOVERNMENT'S COMMITMENT

The Government is committed to maintaining Hong Kong's status as a first-class tourist destination and a first-class venue for conventions and exhibitions.

• We are making every effort to ensure the timely completion of the Airport Core Programme, which will boost significantly Hong Kong's infrastructure to support the development of the tourism industry.

• Pending completion of the new airport at Chek Lap Kok, we are, where practicable, making improvements to service standards and facilities at the existing Hong Kong International Airport to meet the needs of the increasing number of visitor arrivals. We are enlarging the Arrivals Greeting Hall and the Departure Immigration Hall, and increasing the number of transfer desks.

• We have recently increased the permissible plot ratios for hotel sites and introduced, on a trial basis, zoning of sites specifically for hotels. This should facilitate hotel development.

• We will continue to support tourism and convention services through the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA), which receives an annual government subvention. The HKTA carries out marketing activities worldwide to promote Hong Kong as a leading tourist and convention centre.

• We have been monitoring closely the construction of the extension to the HKCEC to ensure its timely completion by mid-1997. The extension will provide much-needed relief to our existing convention and exhibition facilities which are fast approaching their full capacity.

POLICY DIRECTIONS

We propose to :

• explore the possibility of identifying more sites for the construction of hotels;

• provide a one-off grant of $50 million for the HKTA to set up a Tourism Development Fund to take forward the recommendations made by the Visitor and Tourism (VISTOUR) Consultancy Study and to initiate feasibility studies for future tourism attractions;

• encourage the Vocational Training Council to develop, in conjunction with HKTA, more job-related training for those employed in the tourism industry;

• consider commissioning a study on the exhibition industry's need for an exhibition venue which provides basic amenities at a low cost; and

• designate suitable areas in the airport arrival halls and at selected spots in specified business districts for disseminating information on conventions and exhibitions held in Hong Kong.

The markets for tourism, convention and exhibition services are highly competitive. Whilst the Government will continue to provide the necessary support to sustain their growth and development, it is for the private sector to take the lead in providing high-quality services and responding to changing market demands.

The private sector makes its vital contribution by :

• providing further service and language training, both in-house or jointly with vocational training authorities, for front-line staff in the hotel, tourism and convention industries;

• taking part in, and contributing to, activities organised by the HKTA;

• continuing to promote Hong Kong as the premier tourist and convention and exhibition centre in the Asia-Pacific region; and

• promoting Hong Kong as the "Events Capital of Asia".

LONG TERM ISSUES

The HKTA has published the results of the VISTOUR Consultancy Study. Priority projects which the HKTA considers merit further consideration are the Millennium Fair, development of a Film City, an Aquatic Stadium, a Theme Park, a Cruise Centre, a new "Peak", and a Festival Marketplace. These projects, if considered practicable, will help Hong Kong remain the top tourist destination in the region in spite of ever increasing competition from other Asian destinations. The completion of the extension to the HKCEC by mid-1997 would present tremendous opportunities for the further growth of our convention and exhibition industries.

Secretary for Economic Services
Secretary for Trade and Industry

March 1996