336 Travel and Tourism
Efforts to increase regional awareness of Hong Kong's family attractions were further stepped up in 2004 to strengthen the city's reputation as a family destination. The HKTB ran special family promotions in the Mainland, Taiwan and Southeast Asia and distributed Hong Kong Family Fun Guide and Junior Explorer's Passport, providing attractive discount offers for family groups.
The HKTB continued to stage a series of themed mega-events to attract more visitors, and to make them extend their duration of stay and increase spending. The Tourist Board also organised the Best of the Best Culinary Awards for the fourth consecutive year in October and Hong Kong WinterFest for the third year in December.
Convention and Exhibition Travel
Hong Kong is widely recognised as the conventions and exhibitions capital of Asia and continues to attract leading international events. The HKTB provides comprehensive support services to organisations planning to stage major events in the city.
The convention and exhibition sector has recovered very well in 2004 with some 218 conventions and 53 exhibitions attracting over 380 000 international visitors, surpassing the 2002 level. There was strong growth in the number of Mainland delegates, demonstrating Hong Kong's strength as a hub and meeting place for conducting business in China. Notable events included the prestigious Forbes Global CEO Conference and the American Society of Travel Agents World Travel Congress.
During the year, Hong Kong also secured a number of important bookings for conventions and exhibitions, including the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation in December 2005, which will bring 11 000 high-profile delegates and international media to the city, and the ITU Telecom World 2006, which is expected to attract up to 100 000 attendees worldwide.
Cruise Travel
Cruise travel is another important, high-yield sector of the tourism industry. In addition to being the home port for several regional cruise ships, Hong Kong is a popular calling point for international cruise liners.
Although this sector has not yet staged a full recovery due to the long lead time of international cruise schedules, forward ship calls indicate that passenger levels will stabilise in 2005 and show growth from 2006 onwards.
Protection for Travellers
Travel agents providing outbound travel services departing from Hong Kong and inbound travel services for visitors coming to Hong Kong are regulated under the Travel Agents Ordinance. The aim of the ordinance is to minimise the occurrence of fraud and loss to travellers in the event of defaults by outbound travel agents, and to protect the interests of visitors by enhancing the service standards of inbound travel agents. The present regulatory system is made up of two components: a licensing system and a self-regulatory mechanism by the trade.