‘It makes no sense to shut them away’: travel industry figures and mainland Chinese tourists say cap on budget tours to Hong Kong would be step too far
- Starry Lee, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to nation’s top legislative body, has said city should stop leaving door wide open for budget tour groups from mainland
- But tour group experts and sightseers from over border question financial wisdom and fairness of keeping certain visitors out
Members of Hong Kong’s travel industry and mainland visitors have cautioned against adopting a proposal to cap the number of budget tours to the city floated after residents in one neighbourhood complained about crowded streets, which no longer appeared to be a problem after new measures were adopted.
The industry representatives and tourists were responding to the call by Starry Lee Wai-king, the city’s sole delegate to the nation’s top legislative body, for the city to stop leaving the door wide open for budget tour groups from the mainland, warning the situation would only worsen during the “golden week” in May.
Lee, chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, told a district council meeting earlier that inexpensive tours were often associated with forced shopping, which could tarnish Hong Kong’s image, and undermine the government’s vision to develop the city into a cultural hub.
One mainland tour guide leading a group of about 40 tourists from Sichuan province on Saturday called the suggestion “ridiculous”.
“The mainland tourists are just travelling around in their home country,” the woman, who declined to give her name, said. “Hongkongers can visit the mainland any time too. It makes no sense to shut them away.”
A visit to To Kwa Wan found the neighbourhood less busy than last weekend after the Travel Industry Authority and police implemented crowd-control measures.
Some residents had voiced frustration over the hundreds of tourists lining the streets while waiting to be seated for lunch at a restaurant. Photos circulating online showed sightseers in other parts of the city eating on the street or outside public toilets.
