TRAVEL AND TOURISM
280
In 1991, the HKTA arranged familiarisation visits for 3 800 travel agents and briefed a further 900 visiting travel trade personnel to encourage them either to include Hong Kong in their itineraries or to extend the Hong Kong portion of their Far East packages. The association also organised and co-ordinated the Hong Kong tourism industry's partici- pation in 16 major overseas trade promotions, such as the World Travel Market in London and ITB in Berlin. In addition, it assisted 1200 overseas media representatives with their coverage of Hong Kong.
The HKTA continued to promote Hong Kong as a year-round travel destination, marketing its unique blend of East and West and extensive range of attractions. The Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival – International Races 1991 was organised in June for the 16th consecutive year and again received wide international coverage, firmly establishing it as the world championship of this sport. A total of 23 overseas and 127 local teams competed in the events in 1991 and the Row For Charity Race raised $1,225,000 for the Community Chest.
Together with three overseas teams based in Chicago, London and Sydney, the HKTA's Convention and Incentive Travel Bureau pursued more convention and incentive travel business with promotions staged overseas and it organised the largest-ever Hong Kong delegations to such major industry events as the European Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition in Geneva and the Incentive Travel and Meetings Executives Con- vention in Chicago.
The convention and exhibition business has grown from 15 international events in 1976 to 500 in 1991. Incentive travel has also increased from less than 200 groups in 1982 to 550 in 1991. Conference and incentive travel is high-yield business as these visitors tend to stay twice as long and spend three times as much as the average leisure visitor.
Locally, the association continues to operate a number of special interest tours for visitors. New tour products include a Lantau Island Explorer's Guide and three food-related tours introduced during the 1991 Hong Kong Food Festival. The HKTA also introduced special rates for families and senior citizens on several tours organised by the association to develop this market segment.
The association continues to emphasise the importance of training in the service industries. The Industry Training Department runs Effective Selling Skills and Customer Service certificate programmes for staff in the retail trade, as well as courses designed specifically for tour co-ordinators and restaurant service staff. To encourage school-leavers to consider a career in the tourism industry, the association organises lectures under the Tourism Employees Preparatory Programme which provide a comprehensive introduction to the industry. A useful innovation in 1991 was the Job Bazaar, which enabled prospec- tive employers to introduce themselves to successful participants in the preparatory programme.
The HKTA's on-going Hong Kong Cares courtesy campaign saw various innovations during the year. Commercials on the Chinese and English channels of local television stations were launched to promote courtesy and highlight the importance of the tourism industry to the territory's economic well-being.
The association also organised Hong Kong Cares Courtesy Awards for taxi-drivers to promote courtesy among taxi-drivers and improve communication between drivers and passengers. During the campaign period, visitors from 30 countries nominated 750 taxi-drivers for their courtesy and integrity, and 10 finalists competed for the Grand Courtesy Award. To educate the community about the importance of the tourism industry,