ENG-1984 — Page 292

IMMIGRATION AND TOURISM

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offered, the association's 'Land Between' tour of the more scenic and peaceful side of the New Territories has received good support from local agents and hotel members, attracting some 10 000 visitors since its introduction at the end of 1982.

The International Dragon Boat Races, held off the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront for the seventh year, were more successful than ever with a record number of 14 overseas and 83 local teams taking part. Broadcast live on television, the event attracted much local and international publicity. The Row for Charity Race - an integral part of the event - in which crews from local hotels and banks took part, raised $540,000 for the Community Chest.

During 1984, the HKTA and the Society for the Advancement of Chinese Folklore again organised a Lantern Festival in Central District. The HKTA also initiated a weekly cultural show at the Cityplaza in Tai Koo Shing.

Extensive consumer and travel trade advertising campaigns were mounted world-wide and during 1984 more than five million printed items were produced in eight languages for distribution in Hong Kong and overseas. These included a wide range of information leaflets, guidebooks, specialist travel publications and display material.

The association continued to be involved in the travel industry's training schemes. During the year, an experimental retail sales workshop and six courses for tour co- ordinators - three in English and three in Chinese - were organised.

Efforts continued to improve standards of service and courtesy. The fourth phase of the HKTA's Courtesy Programme and the introduction of a telephone hotline, the Visitor Open Courtesy Answering Line (VOCAL), through which visitors were able to nominate candidates for awards for courteous or professional service experienced in Hong Kong came to a successful conclusion. In addition to courtesy presentations to the industry itself, the campaign included training courses, on-the-spot presentations, and distribution of courtesy kits and a card in English, Japanese and Chinese for use by taxi drivers to overcome language problems with visitors from overseas.

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