After Xi'an and Qingdao, eight cities, including Taiyuan in Shanxi, Hohhot in Inner Mongolia, Harbin in Heilongjiang, Lhasa in Tibet, Lanzhou in Gansu, Xining in Qinghai, Yinchuan in Ningxia and Urumqi in Xinjiang, will also join the "Individual Visit Visit" cities in the mainland to Hong Kong and Macao from May 27.
The good news was announced, and the SAR Government and the industry praised and expressed their gratitude and welcome. With the expansion of individual tours, visitors are all visitors, and the attitude of Hong Kong towards visitors has a direct impact on tourists' willingness to visit Hong Kong.
In this regard, the A2 edition of the Hong Kong Commercial Daily on the 13th published two commentaries "Individual Travel Expands and Expands the Tourism Industry to Recognize Changes and Adaptations" and "Open the Door to Welcome Tourists Can Not Be "Disgusted with the Poor and Love the Rich"", which conducted an in-depth analysis on how to attract more tourists to Hong Kong, and now publishes the full text as follows for the benefit of readers.
【Business Daily Review】
Individual travel has expanded again and again, and the tourism industry has become more adaptable
Hong Kong Commercial Daily commentator Su Xin
Following the opening of Xi'an and Qingdao earlier, the Central Government has added eight new provincial capitals to Hong Kong and Macao as "Individual Visit Visit" cities, fully reflecting the country's full support for Hong Kong's tourism industry to revitalise and achieve a new economic leap. The HKSAR Government and the industry have praised the announcement of the good news, expressed their gratitude and welcome, and believed that the relevant measures will bring more overnight visitors to Hong Kong, help boost the tourism industry, benefit Hong Kong's economy, and further strengthen people-to-people exchanges and people-to-people ties between the Mainland and Hong Kong.
Wan Chai waterfront drone show. Photo by reporter Feng Hanwen
Photo by reporter Feng Hanwen
Photo source: China News Service
It can be expected that Hong Kong will soon usher in a new wave of tourism consumption boom for individual visit tours, but if we want to catch up with the new "popularity" and truly transform it into "wealth" and become a new challenge for Hong Kong, it still depends on Hong Kong's own ability. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government and the tourism industry should seize the opportunity to prepare for the reception in advance, and continue to enhance the reception capacity, promote hospitality, fully explore the local tourism resources, provide more fresh experiences, and tell the story of Hong Kong, so as to make tourists feel at home and willing to come again and again, so as to reap greater benefits.
Photo by reporter Feng Hanwen
From the perspective of the overall situation of integration, the central government's expansion of the "individual tour" arrangement has a significant feature: the new cities are all provincial capitals, with the advantage of economic agglomeration in the local area, with a total population of more than 33 million people, especially noteworthy, among the eight cities, except for Harbin and Taiyuan, are the capitals of the western development provinces, and the salary income is traditionally higher than that of the mainland, coupled with the rapid development in recent years, there is no shortage of high-consumption groups, and local residents have a great demand for travel and shopping. The reopening of Individual Visit Schemes is expected to bring more high-spending tourists to Hong Kong, benefiting the hotel, catering, retail, aviation and other industries. At the same time, people-to-people exchanges and economic interaction between Hong Kong and the western cities are bound to be strengthened, and Hong Kong can contribute to the great tide of the large-scale development of the western region and achieve a win-win situation.
Photo by reporter Feng Hanwen
It should be pointed out that the newly opened western cities are more concentrated in ethnic minorities, whether it is Uygur Tibetans or Mongolian Hui, all have their own unique customs and cultural habits, and there are certain differences with Hong Kong, the industry in strengthening the reception capacity at the same time, but also to do enough homework, hospitality is the basic requirement, fully understand and fully respect the customs and habits of ethnic minority tourists is a compulsory course, and early prevention and resolution of disputes is essential, so as to help ethnic minority tourists get a good travel experience, It can also reduce unnecessary misunderstandings, everyone who comes is a guest, don't slack off.
Visitors visit Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District. China News Agency
May Day fireworks display. China News Service
Hong Kong should consider providing more supporting facilities to establish and enhance its direct shipping capacity with the eight cities, and ensure the smooth operation of the control points, tourism facilities, hotels and public transport networks. On the other hand, because of the long distance and the difficulty of coming from the south, Hong Kong can just give full play to its geographical advantages and join hands with cities in the Bay Area to strengthen the tourism characteristics of "one trip and multiple stops", so that individual long-distance tourists can go to more places, increase the sense of experience, and make Hong Kong more value-for-money, which has become a major selling point for Hong Kong to attract tourists.
As for how to innovate ideas, develop more new ideas, explore new resources, develop various in-depth tours, special tours, and provide more diversified selling points, so as to attract and retain tourists, we need to actively learn from the successful experience of various places, and also need all parties to participate, plan together and brainstorm. The golden signboard of Hong Kong's "best tourist destination" is beautiful, and natural people come to make money.
Photo source: China News Service
[There is one to say]
Open the door to welcome guests, you can't "dislike the poor and love the rich"
Fang Xiang
The author has repeatedly stressed the importance of hospitality in the development of Hong Kong's tourism industry, not only to enhance the quality of service and visitor experience, but also to have a direct impact on visitors' willingness to visit Hong Kong. Recently, the HKSAR Government and the industry have been trying to optimise various sectors to complement the development of the tourism industry, further develop special tourism products and carry out various promotional activities, with a view to revitalising the tourism economy, and have achieved initial results. However, there are some murmurs in the society, and some people pick and choose tourists, and according to the level of spending power, they are divided into three, six, nine and so on, and treat guests with "snobbish eyes". Although these people are a small handful, they have spread the unwelcome attitude of "hating the poor and loving the rich," which is very easy to spread and ferment in the Internet age, which is enough to ruin Hong Kong's reputation.
Hong Kong is now vigorously promoting the mega events economy to attract more tourists to Hong Kong, boost consumption and stimulate economic growth. A lot of effort has been put into launching a series of summit forums, arts and cultural events, international sports competitions and MICE events, all of which have been very well received, and everyone can feel that Hong Kong is becoming more and more lively and tourists are returning. In the past May Day Golden Week, 760,000 Mainland tourists visited Hong Kong, close to the original estimate of 800,000, bringing more than $2 billion in additional revenue to Hong Kong as a whole.
Mainland tourists visit the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. China News Service
Recently, however, some people have hyped up the issue of mainland tourists coming to Hong Kong to "travel on a budget" and "not spending", claiming that "it is not helpful to attract tourists who check in and hang out without spending", and accusing that "most of the tourists coming to Hong Kong now are low-spending tourists, resulting in the market becoming more and more dominated by low-cost and low-value-added shops, forming a situation in which bad money drives out good money, and squeezing out the originally high-cost and high-value-added shops". These remarks are not only inconsistent with the facts, but also highlight a mentality of "worshipping the high and stepping on the low".
Tour groups in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. China News Service
Actively adapt to the new tourism ecology
It's very simple. First, all kinds of goods can be found in Hong Kong, and it makes no sense to compare cheap shops with high-end stores, because the positioning is different, the audience is different, some people like Michelin restaurants, and some people linger on snack stalls, each having fun. If low consumption is the so-called "bad money", then how to explain that some of the complaints we have heard in the past are that mainland tourists come to Hong Kong to "buy explosively", so that only more than one brand and luxury stores in the market are crowded, and other civilian shops are crowded, is it "good money drives out bad money"? Second, no matter whether you are poor or rich, people come naturally and wealthy. When mainland tourists come to Hong Kong, transit transportation, hotel accommodation, eating and drinking tea, hiking, shopping for souvenirs, and hanging out at night markets are all places to spend money, although they are not as conspicuous as "spending a lot of money" in brand-name shops, and the total amount of money is not necessarily small. What's more, the current consumption pattern has changed, and it is more about the slow-paced Citywalk, which pursues in-depth experience, standing in the perspective of tourists, giving what they like, meeting their actual needs or freshness during their stay in Hong Kong, and making tourists willing to donate generously, isn't that exactly what Hong Kong needs to do now? Adapt to the new tourism ecology, actively seek changes, retain old tourists, attract new tourists, and promote consumption power, which further demonstrates Hong Kong's ability.
It is true that Hong Kong is not wrong to invest in tourism promotion and to increase its efforts to attract overnight and high-spending customers. The problem is that we can't leave a bad impression on tourists as "big and small" and discriminate. Hong Kong has always been an open and free metropolis, and visitors should be treated equally. Everyone who comes is a guest, and they greet everyone with a smile, which is not flattery, but basic politeness.