Get set for more mainland tourists, top China tourism official tells Hong Kong: 'parallel trading has become a normal global shopping norm'

National official says relaxation of travel restrictions 'will be the direction'

CHRISTY LEUNGchristy.leung@scmp.com

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 15 October, 2015, 3:31am

UPDATED : Thursday, 15 October, 2015, 9:25am

The central government would consider allowing more residents of cities across the mainland to visit Hong Kong and Macau under the individual visit scheme. Photo: Dickson Lee

A top national tourism official says the central government will consider a further relaxation of restrictions preventing mainlanders travelling to Hong Kong individually without tour groups.

But the city's financial services minister said it would be unwise to chase growth in tourist numbers.

Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, said on the sidelines of a forum yesterday that the central government would consider allowing more residents of cities across the mainland to visit Hong Kong and Macau under the individual visit scheme.

"Relaxing travel restrictions fulfil the travel rights of Chinese citizens. It will be the direction," Dai said. "We also see the capacity issue in Hong Kong, so the relaxation should be done in a steady and orderly manner."

Residents of 49 cities are allowed to visit Hong Kong on an individual basis. Photo: David WongDai called on Hongkongers to be more forgiving of habits displayed by some tourists that have created friction with local residents. He said parallel trading had become a "normal global shopping norm".

The individual visit scheme was introduced in 2003 amid a slump in visitors driven by the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Residents of 49 cities are allowed to visit Hong Kong on an individual basis. These are just a fraction of the nation's nearly 660 cities.

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau Professor Chan Ka-keung, however, said Hong Kong should come up with new strategies to entice tourists, and he urged the industry to strike a balance between development and diversifying the type of tourists who are willing to stay overnight in Hong Kong and spend money.

Despite inbound visitor numbers having fallen for four straight months and last month registering a year-on-year decline of 4 per cent to reach 4.6 million, Chan said total yearly arrivals had surged in the decade to 2014, to 60 million - three times the figure in 2004. "It is unrealistic if we still seek growth in visitor numbers," Chan said. "It will cause issues in society and with capacity."

Hong Kong's tourism sector is at a crossroads as it looks to diversify away from its reliance on mainland tourists, who account for about 80 per cent of visitor numbers. Mainlanders are being lured to other nations relaxing visa rules such as South Korea, Japan and Thailand.

Li Jinzao, chairman of the China National Tourism Administration, said at the forum that the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, the high-speed rail link between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and the third runway at the airport would boost visitor numbers.

He said the mainland's tourism industry had been growing rapidly and last year accounted for 9.4 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, surpassing the banking, education and automotive sectors.

"The central government will continue to support Hong Kong tourism," Li said.

http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1867654/get-set-more-tourists-top-china-tourism-official-tells-hong-kong