ENG-1959 — Page 336

PRESS, PUBLISHING, BROADCASTING, FILMS AND TOURISM 281

agencies, hotels, shops and restaurants (Associate Members). Subscribing members are bound by the rules of the Association, and it is hoped that by gradually enlarging the membership body future development of the tourist trade will continue on a sound and healthy basis. A further step in this direction is the training and registration of guides.

The Association maintains two information offices, one on the Star Ferry concourse in Hong Kong and one in the Peninsula Hotel arcade in Kowloon, to provide guidance and information to tourists. The Association co-operates actively with international organizations for the promotion of tourism and is a member of the International Union of Official Travel Organizations, the Pacific Area Travel Association, the British Travel & Holidays Association and the American Society of Travel Agents. During 1959 the Executive Director attended the IUOTO conference in Manila,

Lack of first class hotels is still a problem facing tourist--pro- motion in Hong Kong. With the general adoption by airlines of large-capacity jet aircraft, the number of visitors attracted to the Colony by its scenery and shopping facilities will increase year by year. At present about 2,400 hotel rooms are available for tourists, but only a comparatively small number of these can be classified as first class. Three new hotels, with a total of 970 rooms, were building at the end of 1959 with several others in prospect.