TRAVEL AND TOURISM
Local Activities
Besides promoting Hong Kong overseas, the HKTA also organised local events throughout the year to further enhance awareness among residents of the importance of the tourist industry to Hong Kong.
As part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, the HKTA launched a special 'time capsule' into cyberspace in June 1997. It contained a range of items representative of HKTA and the tourist industry achievements over the past four decades. It is due to be opened in 2007.
The Student Ambassador Programme celebrated its 30th anniversary in 1997 with a reunion seminar and dinner. It was attended by more than 250 students and former student ambassadors.
The 1997 Courtesy Campaign kicked off with 828 Courtesy Day on August 28. A total of 18 Courtesy Kids helped spread the message about courtesy in all 18 districts, while Courtesy Star Andy Lau lent his talents to the opening ceremony. Mr Lau joined Cass Phang and other celebrities in a series of three television messages encouraging higher courtesy standards from residents.
The HKTA is active in the field of industry training and, for example, works closely with the Vocational Training Council and other institutes to ensure sufficient and relevant courses are available for industry staff, or those wishing to joining it. The HKTA publishes a Hotel, Catering and Tourism Courses Directory to provide comprehensive and detailed information on the availability of such courses.
To promote career opportunities in the tourism industry, the HKTA supports the Travel and Tourism Education Programme. At the end of 1997, 68 schools made tourism a subject in their curriculum, reaching some 4 600 students. The HKTA also holds regular career seminars, exhibitions and presentations to encourage school children to consider a career in tourism.
The association publishes the membership directory for the Hong Kong Association of Registered Tour Co-ordinators, which was established to maintain high professional standards among tour co-ordinators. The directory helps tourism personnel to select qualified guides.
Looking to the Future
The establishment of the Tourism Development Fund in 1996 enabled the HKTA to finance feasibility studies on a number of priority new attractions as recommended in the Visitor and Tourism Study for Hong Kong (VISTOUR). So far, studies on a Hong Kong Exposition and a Film City theme park have been completed. Other feasibility studies completed during the year included the Phase One Study of the Cruise Centre development, which reviewed the current state of the cruise market and the potential for further development in Hong Kong, the Visitor and Recreation Sub-Study at Pak Shek Kok, undertaken jointly with the Territory Development Department to identify a possible location for a strategic recreation/tourist attraction near the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as the Study on Hotel Demand and Supply which provided an update on the situation in Hong Kong.
Studies under way include one for a new performance venue, which will help further develop Hong Kong's role as the Events Capital of Asia, the development of a
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