China market opens wider for Hong Kong

Hong Kong's tourism industry is readying itself to welcome the first individual travellers from the Guangdong cities of Dongguan, Foshan, Jiangmen and Zhongshan, as new rules come into effect today allowing them to visit Hong Kong without having to join a tour group.

Residents of these cities will be able to apply to their local Public Security Bureau (PSB) for Frequent Individual Traveller (FIT) visas which allow two personal visits within a renewable, three-month validity period. Allowing for processing time, it is expected that residents who apply now will start making their trips to Hong Kong from early August onwards.

In addition to the regular "meet and greet" operations at Hong Kong International Airport and Lo Wu border crossing, the two most commonly used entry points for Mainland visitors at present, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) will be deploying additional staff at Lok Ma Chau border crossing, the Macau and China Ferry Terminals and Kowloon KCR station at times when peak demand from Mainland travellers is anticipated.

HKTB staff will hand out Welcome Packs including a Hong Kong Welcomes You! visitors' guide, a Welcome Passport offering an array of special discounts and privileges, and a special Be a Smart Shopper leaflet published in simplified Chinese, which provides useful shopping and dining tips.

As part of further efforts to step up hospitality for the arriving visitors, the HKTB is adding FIT-oriented brochures such as the Quality Tourism Services merchant guide, Best of the Best Culinary Guide and Hong Kong Walks to its leaflet racks at entry points. A new Visitor Information & Services Centre is also planned at Lo Wu.

A series of promotional activities directly targeting consumers in the four cities is being implemented. An eight-week series of feature articles on Hong Kong will appear in the Guangzhou Daily newspaper starting on 29 July and an eight-episode TV programme will be broadcast on Guangzhou TV from  1 August.

In Dongguan, Foshan and Jiangmen, special advertising campaigns begin in the local newspapers this week, while in Zhongshan, the HKTB is undertaking joint advertising of new individual travel packages (ferry ticket, hotel and optional sightseeing) with three local travel agencies.

To encourage early take-up, the HKTB is offering Octopus cards pre-loaded with HK$88 value to the first 4,000 FIT travellers from the four cities to call at its Visitor Information & Services Centres in Hong Kong.

Joint planning work with the travel trade to take advantage of the new opportunities has already been under way since details of the relaxation were first announced on 29 June. In fact, the groundwork started even before that, when the HKTB organised a series of familiarisation visits for the Guangdong travel trade from mid-June onwards.

On 4 July the HKTB led a travel mission to Shenzhen, where 150 Hong Kong trade representatives met some 190 members of the Guangdong travel trade. Earlier the same day, Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Stephen Ip and HKTB Chairman, The Hon Mrs Selina Chow met Chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration, Zheng Tongyang and Chairman of the Shenzhen Tourism Bureau, Chi Xiongbiao to discuss the FIT scheme and its implementation timetable. They also briefed some 100 Hong Kong and Mainland media representatives.

Travel agents from the four cities who joined one of the familiarisation tours or attended the Shenzhen travel mission are now developing their own special packages for FIT travellers. In addition, the HKTB has made 15,000 Welcome Passports and 65,000 leaflets available to them for local distribution.

Further trade and media familiarisation tours will be organised in the coming weeks, notably on 17 August which has been designated a Welcome Day, with more than 600 special guests invited from markets worldwide to join a spectacular programme of welcome activities.

A number of tours have been identified as having particular appeal to FIT travellers, and will be promoted through HKTB publicity and the Mainland travel trade. These include squid fishing trips in Sai Kung; a Happy Go Lucky tour covering seven "must sees" in the New Territories; a combined Airport Express, Giant Buddha and dolphin watching tour on Lantau Island, the new Star Ferry Harbour Tour and a Down Memory Lane tour of colonial heritage attractions.

To meet the expectations of the FIT visitors and enhance Hong Kong's reputation for hospitality, the HKTB is encouraging the travel trade to provide Putonghua training for front-line staff.

Even entry procedures into Hong Kong will be smoothed, as the Immigration Departments has agreed to provide supplies of Hong Kong arrival cards and health declaration forms for advance distribution in the PSB offices of the four cities.

HKTB Deputy Executive Director Grace Lee said that to complement the Board's efforts, she hoped that information on the FIT visa application process could be made widely accessible. "We count on the revelant city authorities to publicise the channels and methods of application as extensively as possible  to their residents," she said.

Later this year, the HKTB hopes to open an office in Guangzhou to facilitate  the distribution of Hong Kong tourism information further. An application has already been made to the relevant Mainland authorities.

The Government's announcement last Friday that agreement has also been reached in principle for Beijing and Shanghai residents to travel to Hong Kong as FITs will further extend the ability of Hong Kong's tourism, retail and associated sectors to take advantage of this broadened Mainland travel  market.

Although no dates have yet been set for the Beijing and Shanghai relaxations to take effect, the HKTB will immediately begin discussions with the travel trade in those cities to ensure that early advantage can be taken of this  valuable opportunity to expand existing business among higher spending travellers.