ENG-2014 — Page 368

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Travel and Tourism

Hospitality initiatives

Hospitality is essential to sustaining tourism. The government runs a 'Hong Kong Young Ambassador Scheme' to train young people to be polite and helpful to visitors and to develop a strong hospitality culture in schools and in the community. More than 2,900 young people have joined the programme so far, rendering more than 250,000 hours of ambassadorial service.

Easier Entry for Visitors

Hong Kong is one of the world's most immigration-friendly cities. Travellers from some 170 countries and territories enjoy visa-free access to the city for stays of between seven and 180 days.

The Mainland's Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) permits citizens of 49 designated Mainland cities to visit Hong Kong on their own instead of in tour groups. More than 31 million Mainlanders. visited Hong Kong under the scheme in 2014, representing about 66 per cent of all Mainland arrivals. In 2014, 14.85 million Shenzhen residents visited Hong Kong using the one-year multiple-entry IVS endorsement for Shenzhen permanent residents.

Protection of Travellers

Travel agents must obtain a licence from the government and be members of the TIC to carry out travel business. The TIC investigates complaints against travel agents and takes disciplinary action against agents who do not observe its rules. There were 1,744 licensed travel agents at the end of 2014.

The Travel Industry Compensation Fund (TICF) provides ex gratia payments of up to 90 per cent of the loss of tour fares to outbound travellers in the event of a travel agent default. A total of $504,000 was paid to 49 travellers affected by a default case in 2014 and three default cases in 2013. The TICF also provides emergency financial assistance to outbound travellers injured or killed in accidents in the course of an activity arranged by a travel agent. No such ex gratia payment was made in 2014.

Travel agents have to assign accredited tourist guides to receive inbound visitors. There were 6,726 accredited tourist guides in Hong Kong at the end of 2014.

New Regulatory Framework for the Tourism Sector

Following a review of the tourism sector's regulatory framework in 2011, the government decided to set up an independent statutory body, the Travel Industry Authority (TIA), to regulate travel agents, tourist guides and tour escorts. The government is drafting the new legislation and undertaking other relevant work for the establishment of the TIA.

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