INDUSTRY AND TRADE
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The Hong Kong Tourist Association was established in 1958. The Association is administered by a Board of Management appointed by the Governor and is financed mainly by a Govern- ment subvention, which during 1961 amounted to $2,000,000. This revenue is supplemented by the fees charged to members. Members and associate members at present total 325. They represent all sectors of the travel industry, and include carriers by air and sea, hotel managements, travel agents, tour operators and, as associate members, a wide variety of businesses and shops.
Hong Kong is not only a great shopping centre. It offers many attractions; and to those who visit the Colony for the first time the striking contrasts between east and west and between country- side and town, the scenery, and the people themselves are sources of great interest.
Hong Kong is served by 19 international airlines providing 140 services a week; for sea travellers there are 36 shipping companies and agents representing 76 shipping lines.
During the year the Tourist Association made arrangements to open offices in New York, Chicago and San Francisco which will help to increase the flow of publicity material and information to promoters of travel throughout the United States. The Association also found it necessary to have more space for its administrative offices, which moved into new premises at Caroline Mansion, 1st Floor, 4, Yun Ping Road. Tourist information offices are still retained at 1 East Wing, Peninsula Hotel, Kowloon, and at the 'Star' Ferry Concourse, Hong Kong Island.
The Hong Kong Tourist Association co-operates with many 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.
The Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourist Association, the Hon W. C. G. Knowles, was elected President of the Pacific Area Travel Association for 1961. He will complete his term of office at the end of the PATA Conference to be held in Hong Kong in January 1962, the first international travel conference to be held in the Colony.
During the year the Tourist Association helped to create the Hong Kong Hotels Association, possibly the forerunner of other
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