Development of Tourism Industry
97. As the development of tourism industry and the promotion of East‑meets‑West arts and cultural exchange are closely related, strengthening support for the tourism industry can help achieve synergy. Over the past two years, the Government has rolled out measures of more than $3.8 billion to support the tourism industry. In addition to providing direct financial subsidy to the trade, it also encourages the trade to explore more local tour itineraries before resumption of cross‑boundary tourism and enhancing the supporting facilities of tourist attractions and the tour guide services as well.
98. In light of fierce regional competition, we will get well‑prepared by providing additional resources for the promotion of cultural, heritage and green tourism projects with Hong Kong characteristics, enhancing tourism promotion and rolling out enticing promotional offers in a timely manner to attract tourists from outside Hong Kong. This will also help consolidate Hong Kong's position as a core demonstration zone for multi‑destination tourism and an international tourism hub as specified in the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong‑Hong Kong‑Macao Greater Bay Area and the Culture and Tourism Development Plan for the Guangdong‑Hong Kong‑Macao Greater Bay Area (the CTD Plan).
99. I will earmark $1.26 billion to support and develop the tourism industry, of which $600 million will be used to implement a three‑year scheme entitled "Cultural and Heritage Sites Local Tour Incentive Scheme". The scheme aims at providing incentives for the industry to develop and launch tourism products with cultural and heritage elements as well as supporting the operation of the Green Lifestyle Local Tour Incentive Scheme. Another sum of $60 million will be used to sponsor the training of tourism practitioners for three years, with a view to further improving the professional standards and service quality of the industry.
100. The remaining sum of $600 million in the earmarked funding will be used for supporting the work of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) to revive the tourism industry and implement the CTD Plan. The HKTB will continue to launch the "Holiday at Home" campaign to support the industry. When cross‑boundary travel gradually resumes, the HKTB will promote the "Open House Hong Kong" campaign in appropriate source markets, with a view to attracting tourists to revisit Hong Kong. Last year, the HKTB completed a preliminary study and a consultation exercise on the positioning of Hong Kong's tourism in the long run. Depending on the circumstances of individual source markets, a new tourism brand promotion campaign will be launched around the world in phases in the coming year. The HKTB will also allocate a sum of $100 million from its reserve to support the above work.
| Previous Page | Content | Next Page |
