Travel industry needs to innovate and adapt: regulator

Hong Kong's tourism industry endured a relatively quiet weekend ahead of the highly-anticipated rush for the National Day Golden Week, with mainland visitor arrivals up by 1 percent compared to the previous week. According to the Immigration Department, 252,400 mainland visitors entered the SAR between last Friday and Sunday. But the Travel Industry Authority said it expects 900 tour groups to arrive over a seven-day stretch from Tuesday, bringing with them 36,000 visitors. Speaking on RTHK's Backchat, executive director Annie Fonda said a third of those groups will come on Tuesday and Wednesday. Most will stay for two to three days, visiting places such as The Peak, Repulse Bay and the Avenue of Stars, she said. Fonda said the tourism industry needs to innovate and adapt to the changing needs of tourists. "They are now not focusing on shopping, on spending money on commodities. Rather they come to Hong Kong to enjoy walking, all sorts of difference experiences, like dining," she explained. "Places like Hong Kong University, they just go and visit, and they take pictures. This whole trend is changing." Apart from tour groups, more mainland visitors are expected to utilise the Individual Visit Scheme. The visa programme was expanded this year to allow applications from residents of 10 more mainland cities, including Harbin, Urumqi and Qingdao.