Opinion | Hong Kong is a happening place but can we convince tourists?

The great and the good of the Hong Kong tourism sector need to sit down with the government at senior level and hammer out a new tourism strategy because the old one is not working any more. I say this based on my experience of having been the city’s first commissioner for tourism.

This must be a collective effort, encouraging feedback and taking in points of view from all sources. Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who was then financial secretary, set up consultative bodies for each of the major activities under his purview, for example a Business Advisory Group to support Hong Kong businesses and a Services Promotion Strategy Group to help develop the service sector of the economy.

Several of the items under the latter group fed naturally into the work of the Tourism Strategy Group. Taken together, we identified several pressing needs: an internationally branded theme park to supplement the appeal of Ocean Park to family visitors; an additional exhibition facility to take some of the load off the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai and free up capacity for more conventions; and a world-class cruise terminal.

Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui was seen as adequate for smaller vessels but a long way short of what we needed to attract larger luxury vessels. In due course these gaps in our physical infrastructure were filled by Hong Kong Disneyland, AsiaWorld-Expo and the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal.

The Tourism Strategy Committee, successor to Tourism Strategy Group, has a great deal on its plate. It will have to update the infrastructure requirements. Hongkongers are likely familiar with the disgraceful failure to provide adequate landside connections to the cruise terminal. However, where is the adjacent hotel to provide accommodation for passengers just before and after their cruise or the long-stay car park, both of which are still missing years after the terminal opened?

We will also need to review the city’s sports facilities. The new Sports Park in Kai Tak will be a wonderful venue when it opens, but what about satellite venues for the preliminary rounds if we are to attract a major tennis event, for example? Do we have enough that are up to standard?