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IMMIGRATION AND TOURISM
Special events for which media visitors came to Hong Kong included the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Asian Hairstylists' Competition and the Asian Arts Festival. A total of 573 media visitors came to Hong Kong during the year.
Travel Trade
The Marketing Services Department organised familiarisation visits for 2,390 travel trade members from major tourist markets. The department's terms of reference extend from planning, implementing and appraising major trade and consumer promotional activities in all markets to collecting and disseminating market research and intelligence data. Executives of the department make regular sales calls in particular markets and on HKTA members in Hong Kong who handle incoming business from those markets.
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A Conferences and Meetings Department was established to attract more of this lucrative tourism business to Hong Kong. The department helps meeting planners with aspects of planning, promoting and organising meetings in the territory.
Product Development
The HKTA continued its efforts to develop Hong Kong as a visitor destination, and to improve existing attractions, facilities and services. The Visitors Amenities Com- mittee monitored a wide range of problems faced by the visitor, of which the most persistent was touting.
Service industry training included refresher courses for tourist guides and counter sales staff employed by retail shop members.
A tours section was created to operate special familiarisation and experimental tours, and to conduct more effective guide training. The preparation of commentary scripts for standard tours marketed by Hong Kong tour operators was a priority task, and the main tours have already been completed and published in English and Chinese.
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