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Travel and Tourism
Hospitality Initiatives
Hospitality is essential to sustaining tourism. The government runs a Hong Kong Young Ambassador Scheme to train young people to be polite and helpful to visitors and to develop a strong hospitality culture in schools and the community. About 250 young people render ambassadorial service on the programme every year.
Easier Entry for Visitors
Hong Kong is one of the world's most immigration-friendly cities. Travellers from some 170 foreign countries and territories enjoy visa-free access for stays of seven to 180 days. The Mainland's Individual Visit Scheme permits residents of 49 designated Mainland cities to visit Hong Kong on their own instead of in tour groups. About 31 million Mainlanders visited Hong Kong under the scheme in 2018, representing about 61 per cent of all Mainland arrivals.
Protection of Travellers
Travel agents must obtain a government licence and be Travel Industry Council members to carry out travel business under the Travel Agents Ordinance. The council specifies that only tourist guides it accredits can be assigned to receive inbound visitors. The council investigates complaints and takes disciplinary action against travel agents who do not observe its rules. Hong Kong had 1,764 licensed travel agents and 6,332 accredited tourist guides as at end-2018.
The statutory Travel Industry Compensation Fund provides ex gratia payments of 90 per cent of the loss of outbound fares to outbound travellers in the event of a travel agent default. In 2018, ex gratia payments close to $2.6 million were paid to 713 travellers affected by five default cases. The fund also offers aid in cases of outbound travellers who sustain injuries or death in accidents in the course of an activity arranged by a travel agent. It made ex gratia payments of $24,000 for one accident that happened in 2018.
New Regulatory Framework
In November, the Legislative Council passed the Travel Industry Bill, which provides for the establishment of an independent statutory body, the Travel Industry Authority, to regulate travel agents, tourist guides and tour escorts in a holistic manner.
Tourism Cooperation
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism are implementing the Agreement on Further Enhancement of Tourism Cooperation between the Mainland and Hong Kong to strengthen collaboration in market regulation, joint promotion and information exchange. As a global player, Hong Kong is a member of the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation Tourism Working Group and the Pacific Asia Travel Association, and an associate member of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
Websites
Hong Kong Tourism Board: www.discoverhongkong.com
Meetings and Exhibitions Hong Kong: www.mehongkong.com
Tourism Commission: www.tourism.gov.hk
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