WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1980
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+ SHOULD AGAIN RE-EMPHASISE THE NECESSITY TO REMAIN COMPETITIVE AND THE FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT TO OFFER THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF COURTESY AND SERVICE,+ HE SAID.
MR NEWBIGGING WAS SPEAKING AT THE TABLING OF THE 1979-80 REPORT OF THE HONG KONG TOURIST ASSOCIATION.
BUT HE WAS DELIGHTED TO SEE THE PROGRESS MADE BY THE HOTELS, THE CATERING AND TOURISM TRAINING BOARD SET UP BY THE GOVERNMENT WHOSE DELIBERATIONS WERE LEADING TO IMPORTANT CONCLUSIONS FOR THE FUTURE STAFFING OF HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS IN HONG KONG.
HE NOTED THAT THE YEAR UNDER REVIEW WAS A RECORD FOR HONG KONG'S TOURIST INDUSTRY.
THE TOTAL GROSS EXPENDITURE OF VISITORS HAD INCREASED BY 25 PER CENT OVER THE 1978-79 FIGURE TO $6.4 BILLION, ALTHOUGH THE RATE OF INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF VISITORS SLOWED DOWN.
HE POINTED OUT THAT HONG KONG WOULD MAINTAIN ITS POLICY OF +TRADING UP IN TERMS OF CONCENTRATING ON PER CAPITA EXPENDITURE RATHER THAN ON SHEER NUMBERS OF VISITORS, SINCE WE ARE CONVINCED THIS IS CORRECT FOR THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG'S TRAVEL INDUSTRY.
ON THE VALUE OF TOURISM TO HONG KONG'S ECONOMY, MR NEWBIGGING SAID THE TOURISM SURPLUS ALONE, WHICH AMOUNTED TO $2.57 BILLION DURING THE YEAR, HELPED TO OFFSET 27 PER CENT OF THE VISIBLE TRADE DEFICIT, AFTER TAKING ACCOUNT OF THE EXPENDITURE OF HONG KONG RESIDENTS TRAVELLING ABROAD.
THIS FIGURE WAS REVISED DOWNWARDS BY AS MUCH AS 50 PER CENT AS A RESULT OF THE MORE SOPHISTICATED RESEARCH UNDERTAKEN BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
A STUDY OF THE PRODUCTIVITY COUNCIL OF THE COMPARATIVE ADDED VALUE PERFORMANCE OF THE TOURIST INDUSTRY (ABOUT 45 PER CENT) AND OTHER KEY HONG KONG INDUSTRIES ALSO INDICATED THAT THE CONTRIBUTION OF INWARD TOURISM TO THE ECONOMY AS A WHOLE WAS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT.
HOWEVER, MR NEWBIGGING SAID, THE HONG KONG TOURIST ASSOCIATION WAS NOT COMPLACENT ABOUT THE HARD WORK THAT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO IMPROVE HONG KONG'S POSITION IN THE COMING YEAR.
*AND, OF COURSE, WE SHALL BE GREATLY ASSISTED BY THE NEW HOTEL ROOMS COMING ON STREAM IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS. SOME SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN OUR MAJOR MARKETS AND IN THE ARRANGEMENTS FOR AIRLINES SERVING HONG KONG WILL ALSO BE HELPFUL.
+FURTHERMORE, ADDITIONAL FACILITIES IN HONG KONG TOGETHER WITH THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE AND IN THE ISLANDS, ALL PROVIDE US WITH AN OPPORTUNITY TO BROADEN THE SCOPE OF OUR PROMOTIONS AND TO DIVERSIFY OUR PRODUCT, MR NEWBIGGING ADDED.
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