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IMMIGRATION AND TOURISM
During the year, 21,432 aircraft and 1,014,545 passengers were dealt with at Kai Tak by the airport section. This was an increase of 12 per cent in passenger traffic over the previous year.
Radical changes in visa regulations were introduced in August when the Governor in Council approved proposals whereby nationals of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Por- tugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States of America are permitted to enter Hong Kong without visas for a stay of up to seven days. In addition, many other nationals are now permitted to transit Hong Kong without visas, whether by sea or air, if they do not stay for more than four days.
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TOURISM
Tourism in Hong Kong again made satisfactory progress during 1965 despite unforeseen difficulties which slowed down the extremely rapid growth of previous years. Growth between 1957 and 1965 showed an increase of 927 per cent. This is recognized as the fastest growth rate of any of the 94 member countries of the Inter- national Union of Official Travel Organizations. In 1965, 446,743 tourists visited Hong Kong. This was an increase of only 12.1 per cent over the previous year, compared with an increase of 23.3 per cent in 1964. This slow-down can be attributed to a number of causes which it is hoped are transitory and mainly of a temporary character, but which must be recognized and if possible-remedied.
There is every evidence that competition is becoming keener each year to win the foreign currency which tourism brings. This is particularly noticeable when the tourist industry in the Pacific and East Asian countries is compared with that in Europe. The disparity between trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific air fares is placing an exceptionally heavy burden on Pacific tourist promotion and is creating a barrier which is losing the countries of Asia a vast amount of tourist revenue that would certainly accrue if fares were lower and facilities for charter aircraft made easier. The same is true of fares between Europe and the Far East.
Although more American tourists visited Hong Kong during 1965, the percentage rate of growth decreased. This was possibly