XN000022-1990-10-31 — Page 36

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1990

BILLION,

IN 1989, RECEIPTS FROM TOURISM AMOUNTED TO NEARLY $37 AN INCREASE OF 11 PER CENT OVER 1988. HONG KONG WAS THE MOST POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION IN ASIA, MRS CHAN SAID.

THE INVESTMENT MADE BY THE HOTEL SECTOR ALONE IN THIS FIELD WAS HUGE, WITH AN ADDITIONAL 3,000 HOTEL ROOMS PROVIDED IN 1989, AND A FURTHER 6,500 ROOMS EXPECTED BY THE END OF 1992.

MRS CHAN POINTED OUT THAT MORE DIFFICULT TO QUANTIFY WERE THE BENEFITS DERIVED FROM THE EASE WITH WHICH BUSINESSMEN COULD COME AND GO.

"THERE IS NO DOUBT HOWEVER THAT A CONSTRAINED AIRPORT WOULD SEVERELY LIMIT OUR ECONOMIC GROWTH AND MAKE HONG KONG INCREASINGLY LESS ATTRACTIVE AS A MAJOR CENTRE FOR TRADE, FINANCE AND COMMERCE, SHE SAID.

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AS

TO THE SUGGESTIONS THAT NEW AIRPORTS IN MACAU AND SHENZHEN WOULD SOMEHOW MEAN THE NEED OF CHEK LAP KOK WOULD NOT BE AS URGENT AS WE CLAIM, MRS CHAN SAID FIRST, WE DID NOT SEE HOW MACAU WOULD, IN THE LONG TERM, DRAW AWAY ANY SIGNIFICANT TRAFFIC FROM HONG KONG.

J

'IT WILL HAVE A SEPARATE COMPLEMENTARY ROLE IN THE REGION OF SERVING MACAU AND ITS ADJACENT PEARL RIVER DELTA HINTERLAND.

"IT CANNOT POSSIBLY BE EXPECTED TO ATTRACT TRAFFIC IN ANY SIGNIFICANT VOLUME FROM AN AVIATION HUB THE SIZE OF HONG KONG, WITH THE CONVENIENCE IT OFFERS IN PROVIDING CONNECTIONS TO A VAST NETWORK OF REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ROUTES.

"THE RESISTANCE TO ROUTING PASSENGERS TO HONG KONG THROUGH MACAU WOULD BE VERY HIGH," SHE SAID.

ON THE OTHER HAND, MRS CHAN NOTED THAT HUANGTIAN SHENZHEN WOULD UNDOUBTEDLY HAVE SOME EFFECT ON HONG KONG.

AIRPORT IN

"IT WILL POTENTIALLY FULFIL A HELPFUL ROLE IN RELIEVING PRESSURE ON KAI TAK WHEN CAPACITY HAS BEEN REACHED THERE AND UNTIL CHEK LAP KOK OPENS.

"ONCE KAI TAK BECOMES SEVERELY CONGESTED, IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT MAINLAND TRAFFIC COMING TO HONG KONG MAY FIND IT MORE CONVENIENT TO FLY TO SHENZHEN IN THE FIRST INSTANCE AND TO TRAVEL ON INTO HONG KONG BY ROAD.

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*THIS IS, OF COURSE, ASSUMING THAT AN EFFICIENT ROAD LINK CAN BE INTRODUCED IN TIME TO PROVIDE FOR THIS, MRS CHAN NOTED.

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IN THE MOST OPTIMISTIC SCENARIO OF ALL MAINLAND AIR CARRIERS OPTING TO DO THIS, MRS CHAN SAID THE GOVERNMENT THOUGHT KAI TAK WOULD BE RELIEVED OF 10 PER CENT OF ITS PASSENGERS AND 17 PER CENT OF ITS AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS. THIS WOULD HELP HONG KONG BY DELAYING CAPACITY AT ΚΑΙ TAK BY 12 TO 18 MONTHS, THAT WAS UNTIL 1995, ON THE BASIS OF CURRENT FORECASTS, SHE ADDED.

/"ANOTHER OPTIMISTIC