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and management of hotels in China should deal with the central authorities in Peking or with the local authorities. Mr Lu said the first step would be contact the General Administration of Tourism and Travel. When the outline plans had been agreed the standard of the hotel in question, the number of rooms and so on, more detailed discussion could take place with the local authorities. The eventual contract would be signed with the local department. The Governor asked whether the businessmen concerned or the central administration discussed the details with the local authorities. Mr Lü replied that in different places this worked in different ways. Generally speaking a special organisation was set up for the construction of hotels in a particular area including representatives from the Provincial Revolutionary Committee and the Provincial Revolutionary Construction Commission. The new hotels were administered by Frovincial Revolutionary Bureaux of Tourism and Travel who are responsible jointly to the General Bureau and to Provincial Revolutionary Committees. The Governor asked whether businessmen were able to make direct contact with a regional organisation. Mr Lu said that in the first instance they should contact the General Administration.
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The Governor said that some Hong Kong groups were disappointed because they thought that everything was ready for them to start building a hotel, but later it seemed that things were not quite so certain. He understood that there were difficulties about conflicts with local plans, for example, but the difficulty was that in China the firms did not know whom they should approach. Mr Lu explained that there were problems in getting hotel building coordinated with general plans for new building, especially in the big cities like Feking, Shanghai and Guangzhou. There was not such a problem with smaller hotels in smaller towns. response to an enquiry from the Governor, Mr Lü said that he would welcome the opportunity to speak again with Mr Newbiggin and Mr Fayne either in China or in Hong Kong to where he would have many opportunities of travelling. He promised to let the Governor know if he was paying a visit. The Governor said that Mr Lu should go to Hong Kong to have a rest and work at the same time. Hong Kong had much to learn from China as well as the other way round. He wondered whether it might soon be less difficult to travel from Peking to Hong Kong.
At the moment it was not possible to do so in one day. Mr Lu believed that this would be put right quite soon.
13. Sir Yuet-keung Kan asked whether the General Administration had any plans to establish offices abroad to attract tourists. He said that China had excellent opportunities for expansion in the tourist industry. It was labour intensive and there was a plentiful supply of labour but training would be necessary. The hotel business was very specialist. The Governor had mentioned that tourism and trade go together. Hong Kong trade
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