Session No. 5 File name : cedb(cit)- doc
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Question : What efforts did the Administration make to promote honest tourism and hospitality culture in the past so as to enhance the service quality of Hong Kong tourism industry? Will there be new ways of promotion for 2010-11? If yes, what are the details and the expenditure involved? If not, what are the reasons? Asked by : Hon. WONG Kwok-hing Reply : The government has been making every effort to enhance consumer protection for visitors and promoting a hospitality culture, to enable visitors to enjoy their travel experience in Hong Kong, and to sustain our tourism appeal. Honest and Quality Tourism On promotion of honest and quality tourism, in addition to enhancing law enforcement and refinement of existing legislation, the government, in collaboration with the tourism trade and related organisations, has launched a series of initiatives ranging from promoting quality tourism products, stepping up promotion on smart consumption awareness, and combating unscrupulous practice of individual trade members. To promote the “Quality and Honest Hong Kong Tours” (Q&H Tours) products, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has set up dedicated counters in 18 major Mainland cities and online portals which are assessable throughout the Mainland. These products are guaranteed free from compulsory self-paid activities, guided shopping and imposition of surcharge. The Consumer Council of Hong Kong started the “Shopsmart” website in 2007 to provide Mainland tourists with tips on smart consumption in Hong Kong. The website is hyperlinked with the websites of many consumer organisations and tourism authorities in the Mainland. The Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) has also launched a number of initiatives to strengthen trade regulation, including the extension of the “100% Refund Guarantee” at registered shops as a further step to enhance consumer protection for Mainland visitors. On trade regulation, the TIC requires Hong Kong travel agents to ensure the itineraries of the Mainland inbound group tours received by them are the same as those in the tour confirmation agreements signed with the Mainland tour operators, and to register the agreements with the TIC before the group tours arrive in Hong Kong. They are also required to distribute itineraries that set out the detailed programme in Hong Kong to inbound Mainland group tourists so that the latter are clearly aware of the itineraries. The Tourism Commission (TC) has also been maintaining close liaison with relevant authorities in the Mainland and has regular exchanges with them on the promotion of honest and quality tourism, with a view to refining the regulatory regimes. This will help to achieve sustainable and healthy growth of the tourism industries of the two places. The above measures have been proven effective. Visitors’ awareness on smart consumption has been enhanced. We will continue our efforts in this respect. Hospitality Culture As regards fostering a hospitality culture, the TC has launched the Hong Kong Young Ambassador Scheme (HKYAS) since 2001, with the aim of training young people to be polite and helpful to visitors. Over the past 9 years, more than 1 700 young people have completed the training programme and rendered over 130 000 hours of ambassadorial service (including stationing at tourist spots to introduce the attractions to tourists, and participating in mega and tourism promotional events etc.). Last year, the TC and the Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence joined hands to organise the first “Young Service Stars” programme as part of the HKYAS. The programme, which provides an effective platform for training our young people in pursuit of service excellence through a series of workshops, company visits and projects, has received positive feedback from the schools, youths and their families. It will be the core element of the HKYAS in 2010-11, and the contents for workshops and company visits will be reinforced. The estimated expenditure for running the HKYAS is HK$1.08 million in 2010-11. We have also worked with the travel trade in undertaking a number of activities, which include basic training on wine and food matching for Chinese restaurants’ catering practitioners, English language training for taxi drivers, a series of seminars and workshops for managerial and frontline staff in the travel trade, as well as customer service workshops for coach drivers. We will continue to explore future co-operation opportunities with the trade to provide more training, with a view to promoting the hospitality culture further and enhancing the service quality of the tourism sector. In 2010-11, the above work will be continued and covered under existing resources of the TC.
Directory: citb -> doc doc -> Replies to initial written questions raised by Finance Committee Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13 Director of Bureau : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Session No. 12 File name : cedb(cit)- doc Download 4.7 Mb. Share with your friends:
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