Destinations: Hospitality and Tourism

This report discusses the issues in the tourism industry of Hong Kong, including its background, implications, and recommendations for development. It covers topics such as controversies between Hong Kong and Mainland China, insecurity of residents, and Hong Kong no longer being an attractive tourist destination. The report also includes theories of tourism development such as Christaller’s Theory of Tourism Management and Stanley Plog’s Theory.

Running Head: Destinations : Hospitatlity and Tourism
Destinations: Hospitality and Tourism
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
1. Description of the Tourist destination....................................................................................3
1.1 Background of Tourism Industry.....................................................................................3
The role of the Tourism Commission.................................................................................4
2. Discussion..............................................................................................................................6
2.1 Identification of the changes in tourism and related impacts...........................................6
2.1.1 Controversies between Hong Kong and Mainland China.........................................6
2.1.2 Insecurity of Residents...............................................................................................8
2.3 Hong Kong is no longer an attractive tourist destiny.......................................................9
2.4 Theories of Tourism Development.................................................................................10
2.4.1 Christaller’s Theory of Tourism Management........................................................10
2.4.2 Stanley Plog’s Theory..............................................................................................11
3. Recommendations and Conclusions....................................................................................11
Reference List..........................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
In the scope of this report, the issues in tourism industry of Hong Kong have been
discussed. The tourism industry with its current and future scope will be discussed in detail.
The background of the tourism industry will be researched in order to understand the
significance of the problem in the tourism industry. The implications of the tourism issues
have been discussed in light of the tourism development models like Christaller’s Theory of
Tourism Management and Stanley Plog’s Theory. Lastly recommendations will also be
provided in this reports for the development of the tourism industry and eradication of the
persisting issues.
1. Description of the Tourist destination
The industry of Tourism in Hong Kong have been an integral component that
significantly contributes to the economy of the country. The significance of the industry to
the economy of the country increased ever since if transferred to the service sector model in
the latter part of the 1980s and 90s (Baum 2016). The government of Hong Kong introduced
the Individual Visit Scheme in the year 2003, ever since there have been sharp rise in the
visiting rate of the tourist from Mainland China.
1.1 Background of Tourism Industry
Total expenditure for expansion of tourism scope in the country associated with
inbound tourism exceeded HK$7,333 each capita in the year 2011. As per the data provided
by the Tourism Board of Hong Kong, the total tourist visits in the year 2015 have been 49
million, which shows a 35% increase in comparison to the rate of tourist visit 3 years ago.
This figure includes 31 million tourists from Mainland China, with 11 million short haul;
arrivals as well as 6.2 million long haul tourists’ arrivals (Vu et al. 2015). Along with
significant growth in the rate of visit of Mainland China tourists, the other long as short haul

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tourists’ markets are also doing prolific business with growth rate in double digits ever since
2006.
Among the long haul tourists, most of the visitors are from Europe, Middle East as
well as Africa. The number of tourists visiting accumulatively from these regions for long
haul have been 2919480 with an approximate annual increase rate of 11.19% (Rowen 2016).
However, Hong Kong have been facing excessive competition from the other Mainland cities
as well as Macau where the rate of tourist visits is almost similar to that of Hong Kong. The
Tourism Board of the country works in close association with the authorities as well as
trading associations related to the travel and tourism industry in order to alleviate the tourist
experience in the country. Driven by the competition in context to tourism in other countries,
the tourism board is attempting to make Hong Kong an essential component for all sorts of
combined as well as multi destination itineraries.
In the year 2014, there were 925 hotels in the country along with an almost equal
number of tourist guest houses. There were almost 70000 rooms in all, in the whole country
open for the tourists. Before 2010, the occupancy rate of the rooms of hotels as well as guest
houses have been around 77% in the peak tourism seasons and about 45% i0n the lean
seasons (Cheng 2016). However, since the emergence of maximum number of Mainland
tourists in the country, the annual aggregate occupancy rate of the hotel room have been
around 97%. The percentage of visit of the long haul tourists have been increasing at a rate of
21.7% every year (Chen et al. 2016). This is boom for the economy of the tourism industry of
the country as the revenue regeneration rate of the organisations associated with the tourism
industry of the country will be positively impacted with the elongation of the stay hours and
the travel period of the long haul customers. Again, Zhang and Kulendran (2017), opines in
contrast that the short haul tourists are economically more beneficial for the hotel groups as
the fare per day that they pay in comparison to the long haul customers is much higher.

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The role of the Tourism Commission
The Tourism Commission (Board) of Hong Kong had been developed in the year
1999 in order to develop the country as one of the premium international city for foreign
tourists. In order to foster tourism in the country, a Tourism Strategy Group have been
developed comprising of representatives from the Hong Kong government, HKTB as well as
other essentials agents and organisations associated with the tourism industry of the country.
Almost all districts in the country can be considered as important tourist destinations.
However, the tourist visit rate is maximum in the locations like Hong Kong Island, Kowloon
as well as the New territories. The tourism in the country have also been boosted by a series
of events that take place in Hong Kong throughout the year. The New Year Night Parade is
one of the main festivals that drags huge amount of international tourists. The Tsim Sha Tsui
area is occupied by more number of tourists than the original number of inhabitants of the
place (Chen et al. 2016). This is because this part of the Hong Kong Island hosts the New
Year Night Parade. In the year 2018, the Parade attracted about 150000 spectators, half of
whom were visitors from Mainland China.

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Figure 1: Tourism Domain in Hong Kong
(Source: Lai, Chow and Loi 2018)
2. Discussion
2.1 Identification of the changes in tourism and related impacts
2.1.1 Controversies between Hong Kong and Mainland China
The major contrast between Hong Kong and Mainland China lies in the system and
culture of the two nations. This diversification has been accountable for a fair amount of
tension, thereby impacting the trade relations between the two nations. The political
intervention of the Chinese government in the internal affairs of Hong Kong has been the
reason for the resentment of many people of Hong Kong (Liu and McKercher 2016). The
tourists of Mainland China have access to free passage to Hong Kong. However, this strategic

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relation is getting hampered because of some of the discriminatory activities that are taking
place in context to tourism in the country. Taking control of some of the major media outlets,
pro mainland voices have been raised. In 2018, such cases caused great controversy when the
Hong Kong based agencies censored and downplayed negative stories regarding the central
government of China.
There are at times cultural conflicts between the Hong Kong native tourists as well as
the Chinese mainlanders. The mainlanders are often not able to live up to the strict British
influenced standards of the Hong Kong people. Large sweeps of tourist are often derogatorily
called as “locusts”, implying that the mainlanders are people coming to consume the
resources of the Hong Kongers. The Hong Kong people have a conception that the
mainlanders leave behind a mess when they leave the country. Shen et al. (2017), reports that
this is an allegation that is brought about, not in vague. The Hong Kong people have accused
the poor habits of spitting in public and having food on the subways. These practices of the
mainlanders are considered to be deliberate by the people of Hong Kong and thus find them
socially unacceptable. As (), reports, the allegations of the people of Hong Kong, is not
mainly against the tourists of the mainland, rather they accuse the whole culture of the
mainlanders. Some instances have been provided by Tsui and Fung (2016), in order to
substantiate the fact. One of the cause of annoyance of the Hong Kong people is the practice
of the Chinese women who come to Hong Kong for giving birth to their children so that they
can get access to the better economic infrastructure and the superior schooling facilities
available in Hong Kong along with relative freedom that are not available to the residents of
the Chinese mainland. The mothers also come to Hong Kong for purchasing large quantities
of baby food and milk powder at cheaper costs. The people of Chinese mainland for their part
have also lashed back. The commentator of PR of China created a big international
controversy when he called the Hong Kong people as dogs (Zhang, Decosta and McKercher

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2015). This was an allegation explaining them as submissive colonial subjects that gave birth
to large protest movements in Hong Kong.
2.1.2 Insecurity of Residents
The residents complain that the huge influx of the tourists have disrupted their lives.
The streets are difficult to be navigated. There are tourist buses parked outside the residential
and office areas, blocking the entrance and the access-ways. The residents are strongly
demanding that the government of Hong Kong should decide a quota for the maximum
number of Chinese tourists to be allowed to enter the land of Hong Kong every year.
Agyeiwaah et al. (2016), analysed that that the locale of the mid night parade, To Kwa Wan,
is actually a residential district. However, excess shops have emerged in the locality to sell
souvenirs to the tourists. This is causing inconvenience to the local residents.
In 2015, responding to the call of the locals, the government set a limit against the
entry of the Chinese to the land of Hong Kong. The residents of the neighbouring city,
Shenzhen are only allowed to visit Hong Kong freely. This implies that the number of tourists
were supposed to reduce. However, the number of Chinese infiltrates have increased over
time and the rate of influx have been enhancing. However, popliteal debate is waged against
entertainment tax payment by the Chinese tourists also. There is no ignoring the fact that the
Chinese locals entering and thriving in Hong Kong for long haul period are utilising more
than 25% of the resources of the land (Ji, Li and King 2015). That is why the government of
Hong Kong had decided to charge the tourists (keeping an eye on the Chinese Mainland
tourists only) a tax rate between Hong Kong Dollar $20 and $50. However, the government
of the People Republic of China are not willing to accept this policy. They demand that the
people of Hong Kong and mainland China enjoy a free association between them and that is
why this policy should not be implemented. However, Tolkach (2018), states that by not

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imposing the taxation on the tourists and specially the Chinese tourists, the government is
leaving out a great scope revenue generation. Not only that, but the Chinese are also
consuming a lot of resources of Hong Kong (Fang, Ye and Law 2016). As an outcome, the
limited resources of the small country of Hong Kong are not able to meet up the demands of
the local residents.
2.3 Hong Kong is no longer an attractive tourist destiny
There are serious issues in Hong Kong that is keeping the tourists away. The first
issue is that the constant strife between the Hong Kong and the Chinese people have scared
the tourists from the other locations. That is why many tourists have raised question about the
safety of global tourists in Hong Kong. In last 3 years there have been repetitive incidents of
Hong Kong people throwing stones at the Chinese tourists (Luo and Zhai 2017). This has
raised great question regarding the safety of the tourists and the capacity of the Tourism
commission to provide safety to the tourists.
Air pollution and water pollution of the major cities of Hong Kong are becoming the
cause of growing interests of the tourists to visit the country. The tourists are lacking the
desire to do shopping whenever they enter the Causeway Bay or the Mongkok, the reason
being the choking air. The beaches are also being avoided by the tourists who find rubbish
drifting around the water.
The discourtesy among the locals of Hong Kong regarding tourists is another factor.
Most of the people in Hong Kong are in general rude in their behaviour towards the global
tourists. Mak, Cheung and Hui (2017), states that if the Hong Kong people find the Chinese
tourists to be misbehaving, the same is being caused by them also. The foreign tourists,
especially the European and the American tourists are being hating the conduct of the Hong
Kong people like speaking loudly over the phones, speaking loudly while eating and also

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using mobile phones in the cinema halls. The last big problem in this context is the running
out of the tourist attractions. The Peak, Repulse Bay or the Ocean Park are becoming
commonplace with age. So is the Space Museum of Hong Kong. These places are becoming
common and in the age of internet people who have not visited the places are also aware of
the importance or the spectacular beauty of the spots.
2.4 Theories of Tourism Development
2.4.1 Christaller’s Theory of Tourism Management
The theory states that the tourist areas go through constant span of development.
Firstly, the attraction of definite tourist spots change with time. The same has happened with
the tourist spots of Hong Kong. Places like The Peak, Repulse Bay or the Ocean Park that
seemed marvellous to the people at an age, have now become commonplace. People have
either visited the places on large numbers or heard a lot about the location, which has
dissipated the urge to visit the locations. Again the theory also state that the category of
tourists vary with time. This implies that the perception of various tourists are different (Fung
and Jim 2015). The Chinese tourists are not bothered about the local hygiene and habits like
speaking loudly over mobiles, talking loudly in classy restaurants or chatting and using
mobiles in cinema halls. However, the other tourists like the Europeans or the Middle Eastern
tourist consider these as a serious cult of indigenous culture and their perception about Hong
Kong as a tourist’s destination vary because of these occurrences. Hence, this advocates the
third postulate of the theory that holds that the tourists’ expectations and perceptions about a
place also vary with time. The involvement of locals is also a crucial factor according to this
theory. In Hong Kong the resentment of the locals against the Chinese tourists is shaping
tourism in the country. Again, the theory lastly states the importance of tourism locations
depends highly on development of new tourist spots over time. Hong Kong have not been

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able to develop new tourist locations over generations. However the same have been done by
neighbouring countries like Macau, Malaysia or Singapore. That is why these areas which
were not famous as tourist spots at a time, now enjoys equivalent tourist attraction as Hong
Kong.
2.4.2 Stanley Plog’s Theory
This theory classifies the global tourists in to three groups. These are psychocentrics,
allocentrics as well as midcentrics. The psychometrics generally prefer to travel to places
whose environment and culture, they are familiar with. They are not much concerned with
innovative tourism experience. They generally tend to avoid unknown places, since they feel
visiting such places can arouse unusual situations or personal space. The mainland Chinese
tourists are tourists of such category. They prefer the tourist destinations of Hong Kong since
they can get a free entry to the locations and the atmosphere, habitual norms and other factors
are very similar to that of the mainland. However, Cheung, Lo and Fok (2017), states that
such tourists also prefer safe locations. That is why they do visit known locations. In case if
the locals of Hong Kong become hostile against them, they would also start despising Hong
Kong. In this context, the analysis of Ji, Li and King (2015), can be used to state here that the
government of Hong Kong keep in notice that the Chinese travellers comprise of the major
percentage of the tourists who visits the country. Hence, the revenue of the tourism sector of
the country would sharply drop if the Chinese mainlanders do not visit Hong Kong.
Allocentric tourists are people who seek to travel to unfamiliar tourist locations that
are less popular and offers a different culture and environment. That is the European or the
American tourists favour visiting Hong Kong in spite of having exquisite tourist spots in their
homelands (Tolkach 2018).

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The last category of tourists according to this model is the midcentrics. They do not
have preference over any specific criteria. Such tourists do not affect the tourism in Hong
Kong.
3. Recommendations and Conclusions
It is very important to solve the increasing problem of tourism in Hong. There is great
prospect in tourism in the country. However, the growing disgust of the locals against the
Chinese tourists can hamper the revenue generation from the sector. This is why, the
government have to act in a twofold manner. Firstly, they need to make the people
understand the importance of the Chinese tourists for the economy of the land. In order to do
that, the government need to make public conferences, press releases and public address
through advertisements, online media and other channels. Secondly, the government also
needs to develop new channels of attracting the Chinese tourists also. They have to address
the major needs of the Chinese. Zhang and Kulendran (2017), suggests that the future
developments can take place in the medical and beauty tourism. The lack of sufficient
medical facilities at affordable cost in the mainland would attract the people in China towards
Hong Kong.
Other issues like excessive pollution can be countered with the help of planting trees
alongside the roads. They can provide environmental education courses in the schools so that
the people become more aware about pollution. In order to attract more tourists, the
government might consider exploration of the natural spaces. They can simplify the
application procedure of visiting the Mai Po Nature Reserve as well as the marshy parks. The
government should also consider developing some museums highlighting the specialities of
Hong Kong.

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