Sheffield Business School
BSc (Honours) Tourism Management
Title The analysis of Hong Kong as an International Convention Destination
Name HO Mei Ngan
Student No 91204778
Month Year April 2010 Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Business School
Title The analysis of Hong Kong as an International Convention Destination
FULL NAME HO Mei Ngan, Fanny
STUDENT No 91204778
Supervisor: Ms. Monica Low
In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Tourism Management.
Month Year April 2010 Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Howard Young, Professor Ray
Pine and Dr. John Ap. If it was not for them, I would not be able to do the primary research for this study. I greatly appreciate their contribution to this study.
Ms. Monica Law, my dissertation supervisor, has guided me in completing this study throughout the academic year. I am truly grateful to her for her ongoing guidance and advice.
Special thanks is also going to Mr. John Perry, Mr. David Egan and Dr. Kevin Nield who gave me instruction and direction at the early stage when I was confessed about the research method. I am deeply grateful to their patience and kindness.
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Abstract
This study aims to investigate the possibility of Hong Kong to become the top 5th world destination by 2020. The model destination mix is used to examine the current and future tourism development in Hong Kong. Furthermore, this study also looks at whether each individual component of destination mix follows sustainable tourism practices.
The study deployed both primary and secondary research approach. Primary research is in-depth interview with tourism professional and experts. Secondary research is extensively reviewing the existing data from various sources to support this claim.
The research results show that Hong Kong has the potential to become the top 5th world destination by 2020 thanks to the contribution of the tourist arrivals from China.
This study also analyzes the current tourism development in terms of attractions, amenities, accessibility, hospitality resources and government policy. It also emerges that Hong Kong governments lacks a tourism master plan to guide and govern future tourism development. Also, it is indicated the city’s current tourism policies does not follow the concept of sustainable development.
This study provides six recommendations to the HKSAR government on how tourism should be planned.
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Contents
Acknowledgements ...... ii
Abstract ...... iii
Contents ...... iv
List of Figures ...... viii
List of Tables ...... ix
Chapter 1 Introduction ...... 1
1.1 Rationale of the research ...... 1
1.2 Aims of the research ...... 4
1.3 Objectives of the research ...... 4
1.4 The subject areas and the areas in which the research will impact ...... 4
1.5 The overall structure of the report ...... 5
Chapter 2 Literature Review ...... 7
2.1 Concept of tourist destination ...... 7
2.2 Destination Mix ...... 10
2.3 Definition of Sustainability ...... 13
2.4 Sustainable Development...... 14
2.5 Sustainable Tourism ...... 15
2.6 Carrying Capacity ...... 20
2.7 Destination Life Cycle Model ...... 22
2.8 Competitive Advantage ...... 24
2.9 Tourist arrivals of Hong Kong from 1999 to 2009 ...... 25
Chapter 3 Methodology ...... 27
3.1 Research proposition ...... 27
3.2 Rationale of the research ...... 27
3.3 Research method ...... 28
3.4 Primary research ...... 28
3.5 Secondary research ...... 30
3.5.1 Books: ...... 31 iv
3.5.2 Journals articles: ...... 31
3.5.3 Governmental authorities and their website: ...... 31
3.5.4 Government Documents ...... 31
3.5.5 Websites ...... 31
3.5.6 Newspapers ...... 32
3.5.7 Annual Reports...... 32
3.6 Constraints on the research ...... 32
3.7 Strengths and weaknesses of the research ...... 33
3.8 Post research evaluation ...... 34
Chapter 4 Results ...... 35
4.1 Finding ...... 35
4.1.1 Attractions ...... 35
4.1.1.1 Natural attractions ...... 35
4.1.1.1.a National Parks ...... 35
4.1.1.1.b Country Parks...... 36
4.1.1.1.c Wetlands ...... 36
4.1.1.1.d Beaches ...... 36
4.1.1.2 Built attractions ...... 36
4.1.1.2.a Historic, cultural and heritage properties ...... 36
4.1.1.2.b Museums ...... 37
4.1.1.2.c Temples and Mosques ...... 37
4.1.1.2.d Theme parks ...... 37
4.1.1.2.e Streets with special interests ...... 38
4.1.1.2.f Attractions showing the old Hong Kong ...... 38
4.1.1.2.g Modern attractions ...... 38
4.1.2 Amenities ...... 39
4.1.2.1 Lodging ...... 39
4.1.2.2 Food and Beverage ...... 39
4.1.2.3 Support industries ...... 39
4.1.3 Accessibility ...... 40 v
4.1.3.1 Transportation ...... 40
4.1.3.1.1 Transportation terminals ...... 40
4.1.3.1.1.a Airports ...... 40
4.1.3.1.1.b Ports and Harbours ...... 40
4.1.3.1.1.c Cross-border traffic ...... 41
4.1.3.1.2 Internal transport ...... 41
4.1.3.1.2.a Public transport ...... 41
4.1.3.2 Infrastructure ...... 41
4.1.3.2.a Water systems ...... 42
4.1.3.3.b Communication networks ...... 42
4.1.3.3.c Health care facilities ...... 42
4.1.3.3.d Power sources ...... 43
4.1.3.3.e Sewage and drainage areas ...... 43
4.1.3.3.f Streets or highways ...... 43
4.1.3.3.g Security systems ...... 43
4.1.4 Hospitality Resources ...... 44
4.1.4.1 Hospitality Training ...... 44
4.1.4.2 Community Awareness Programs ...... 44
4.1.5 Government Policy ...... 44
4.1.5.1 Tourism policy ...... 44
4.1.5.2 Statutory Tourism Authority ...... 45
4.2 Analysis ...... 45
4.2.1 Attraction analysis ...... 45
4.2.2 Amenities analysis ...... 47
4.2.3 Accessibility analysis ...... 49
4.2.4 Hospitality resources analysis ...... 50
4.2.5 Government policy analysis ...... 52
4.2.6 Competitive advantage analysis ...... 54
4.2.7 Problems facing the tourism industry in Hong Kong analysis ...... 55
4.2.8 Possibility of Hong Kong being a top 5th destination analysis ...... 57 vi
Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations ...... 60
Appendices ...... 71
Appendix 1 ...... 71
Appendix 2 ...... 72
Appendix 3 ...... 75
Appendix 4 ...... 77
Appendix 5 ...... 80
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List of Figures
Fig 1.1 Total Tourists Arrivals in 2009
Fig 1.2 World’s Top Ten Destinations by 2020
Fig 2.1 Criteria often used for sustainability in tourism
Fig 2.2 Destination Life Cycle Model
Fig 2.3 Total Tourist Arrivals of Hong Kong from 1999 to 2009
Fig 5.1 Tourist Arrivals of Hong Kong from China from 2003 to 2008
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List of Tables
Tab 2.1 Elements of Destination Mix
Tab 2.2 The Tools of Sustainability
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Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Rationale of the research
Hong Kong has been a world-class Asian city and also a major and popular destination for visitors in the Asia Pacific region. Tourism is one of the Four Key
Industries in the Hong Kong economy along with financial services, trading and logistics and producer and professional services. In 2008, the inbound tourism industry generated HK$36.5 billion which represented 2.3% of GDP and provided jobs for 164 800 people (Census and Statistics Department 2010). Hong Kong received nearly 30 millions of tourist in 2009 (Tourism Commission 2010) despite a global economic downturn since late 2008 and the unpredictable outbreak of swine influenza. Figure 1.1 shows the tourism performance of Hong Kong in 2009 with comparison in 2008.
Figure 1.1 Total Tourists Arrivals of Hong Kong in 2009
It is no doubt that the tourism industry has been playing a prominent role in the Hong
Kong economy. Predicted by World Tourism Organization (WTO) (2001a), Hong
Kong, treated as a separate entity, would have been the top 5th world leading
1 destination receiving 56.6 million tourists by the year 2020 at an annual growth rate of 7.1 per cent. Figure 1.2 shows the top 10 world destinations by 2020 that China would be at the top of the list while Hong Kong placed at the fifth. It was also estimated that Hong Kong would be the top second destination in the East Asia and the Pacific following China (World Tourism Organization 2001b).
World Tourism Organization made these predictions based on the research and survey conducted worldwide. In the eyes of the general public, such prediction give them a sense of pride and honour knowing Hong Kong might be able to reach the 5th world
destination by 2020. However, the scholars, the professionals and the people working
in the tourism industry concern about the issue at a completely different angle. They
question whether Hong Kong, being a city rather than a country, has the potentials to
cope with such a large inflow of tourists by 2020.
Figure 1.2 World’s Top Ten Destinations by 2020
The chosen topic is worth studying because no similar research has been done on
2 investigating the possibility of Hong Kong to become a top 5th destination. What is
the position of Hong Kong being a world destination? This research also reviews the
tourism development in Hong Kong in the hope of offering advice on future tourism
development. Does the tourism development in Hong Kong follow the principle of
sustainability? Can tourism development in Hong Kong be ecologically,
environmentally and socially sustainable for the next generation? The research results
will provide solutions to the Hong Kong government on the sustainable tourism
planning.
The concept of sustainability has been widely adopted in different industries so does
in the field of hospitality and tourism. Generally speaking, sustainable tourism is all
about having economic development without upsetting the ecosystems, conserving the
environment, preserving the local heritage and respecting the local culture. If the
prediction is going to be true, it will be extremely important for the Hong Kong
government to adopt sustainable tourism planning. Planning has been placed at the
first priority in tourism, Hong Kong government should have a better understanding
and be aware whether the transportation system, accommodation, attractions, public
facilities and other tourist supporting facilities etc, are able to meet the tourist demand
at present while benefit the future generation.
Undoubtedly, tourism has contributed to the local economy and is an important
industry in Hong Kong. If the prediction is to be true, it will be worth planning the
tourism industry before 2020 and starting adopting sustainable tourism practices.
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1.2 Aims of the research
The aim of the research is to find out how tourism should be planned and developed if
Hong Kong was to be the top 5th world destination by the year 2020.
1.3 Objectives of the research
This research consisted of 4 main objectives:
1. to examine the current and future tourists development resources of Hong Kong
2. to investigate the possibility of Hong Kong to become a top 5th destination
3. to examine the sustainability of Hong Kong tourism
4. to provide recommendation on sustainable tourism planning of Hong Kong
1.4 The subject areas and the areas in which the research will impact
If Hong Kong is going to be the top 5th world destination by 2020, it is essential for
the government to plan tourism in advance to meet the future demand. The
government has the responsibility to cooperate with public sectors, private sectors and
stakeholders to plan tourism a better future. The government will be doing research
and implementing the plan on what types of attractions can be developed so as to
increase the attractiveness of Hong Kong being a world-class destination. The
government also gets to know what infrastructure and public facilities should be
developed so as to enhance the physical strengths of Hong Kong. The public developers get to know what better services can be provided to the tourists. The 4 private developers have a better idea of how many hotels should be established so as to meet the expected room occupancy. The local community is also impacted because tourism would have an enormous impact on the economic, social and cultural development.
1.5 The overall structure of the report
Chapter 1 is the introduction. This chapter states the rationale and purpose of the research, the importance of the study and how this research contributes to the tourism industry.
Chapter 2 is literature review. This chapter provides a clear definition of the concepts and theories used in this research which are developed by different scholars in tourism and how they play a paramount part in finding the results of this research. Concepts of tourist destination, destination mix, definition of sustainability, sustainable development, sustainable tourism, carrying capacity, competitive advantages, destination life cycle and total tourist arrivals of Hong Kong from 1999-2009 are reviewed accordingly.
Chapter 3 is the methodology. This chapter states the method used in this research.
The researcher adopted both primary and secondary research method. Primary research is in-depth interview and secondary data was the collection of existing data which includes academic journals and articles, official governmental statistics, newspapers articles and governmental websites etc. limitations of the research and post research evaluation will also be discussed.
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Chapter 4 is finding and analysis. This chapter analyses the results of this research.
Analysis is on attraction, amenities, accessibility, hospitality resources, government policy, competitive advantage, problems facing the tourism industry in Hong Kong and possibility of Hong Kong being a top 5th destination.
Chapter 5 is conclusions and recommendations. This chapter concludes the result of
this research and provides recommendations to the Hong Kong government on how
tourism should be planned.
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Chapter 2 Literature Review
This chapter gives a clear definition of the theories, concepts used in this research.
2.1 Concept of tourist destination
“Destinations are places of interest to tourists. A place that is not visited by tourists is not a tourist destination” (Howie, 2003, p.73). He asserted that understanding the needs of the potential tourists and developing a destination’s resources to supply their needs could make a place become a tourist destination. Yet Coltman also held a similar view of what a destination was. Coltman (1989, p.48) argued that
“destinations can be described as an area with different natural attributes, features, or attractions that appeal to nonlocal visitors, that is, tourists.” He identified an area as a true tourist destination by classifying its visitors as local or nonlocal. The area’s attractiveness was primarily to local residents that did not have to travel distant to reach it was not a tourist destination. The area’s attractiveness was to people who had to take a day trip to travel was a tourist destination. The two definitions which defined destination as a place visited by tourists sounded rather simple, vague and unclear.
Destination could be defined as different zones based on its spatial distribution.
Primary destination zone was served by medium or large city while secondary destination zone was served by a small town (Gunn and Var 2002). Yet this definition was vague since it was difficult to measure a destination zone over a spatial pattern.
According to Howie (2003), destinations could categorically be either urban or rural.
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Urban destinations were in which tourist activities took place in towns and cities.
Thus, the term “urban tourism” was coined. Page (1995) also noticed the phenomenon of urban tourism as the result of urbanization. Tourist activities that took place in urban destinations were founded on man-made attractions which should include sightseeing, visiting cultural attractions such as art galleries, concerts, museums, heritage centres etc, shopping, eating out and business tourism such as meetings and conferences. Rural destinations were in which tourist activities took place in rural areas (Howie 2003). The researcher suggested that it was not appropriate to discuss the definition of “rural areas” in this research since the term was not a major concern.
Hong Kong was obviously an urban destination under the definition discussed above.
However, it was far too simple and not specific enough to distinguish a destination that was either urban or rural.
Destinations could categorically be primary or secondary (Mill and Morrison 1992). A primary destination was a place in which tourists’ primary motivation to visit and they tended to stay for several days or longer. A secondary destination, also named stopover destination, was a place for tourists to visit on the way to a primary destination and they tended to stay for one or two days. Based under this concept,
Hong Kong could be a primary destination to Japanese or Korean tourists while a secondary destination to European visitors who were on their way to other South East countries or Oceania.
Holloway (1994) distinguished destinations as being either natural or man-made and either the town or city. Whether a destination was natural or man-made, most were managed through the provision of access, parking facilities and accommodation etc.
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He further suggested that the town or city was of architectural and historic importance
(e.g., London) and with well established reputation and image (e.g., Paris and Rome). are Law (1995) introduced a typology of tourist destinations that were capital cities
(e.g., Athens), a developed traditional centre (e.g., Kusadasi of Turkey), touring centres (e.g., Salzburg) and purpose built resorts (e.g., Disneyland Paris). Burkart and
Medlik (1981) concluded that the tourist destination was basically a geographical unit that could be a self-contained centre, a village or a town or a city, a district or a region, an island, a country or a continent. Based on these concepts of a destination, Hong
Kong could categorically be a city with rich historic heritage and well-known destination image as an Asian world-class city.
Lew and McKercher (2002) categorized the types of destinations into five groups:
Single Destination, Gateway Destination, Egress Destination, Touring Destination and
Hub Destination. Single Destination was a traveller going to a city of origin to a single destination and then returned to the city of origin. Gateway Destination was the place that the travellers first encountered when they began a multiple destination itinerary. Egress Destination was the last places that the visitors visited before returning to their city of origin. Touring Destination was a place of interest located after the first stopover and before the last stopover. Hub Destination was a place that visited more than once by the travellers in a multiple destination itinerary. Lew and
McKercher’s research result found that Taiwan and Singapore travellers used Hong
Kong as a Single Destination. US and Australian travellers used Hong Kong as a
Geteway Destination and Egress Destination and Chinese travellers used Hong Kong as a Egress Destination.
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It was of great importance that the concept of the tourist destination that tourism was not basically an industry or economic activity of an area identified as a destination.
Tourism must be integrated into the development of a place. In some cases, the tourism industry played a dominant role in the economy of a destination. Therefore, careful and thorough planning was hugely important (Howie 2003).
2.2 Destination Mix
Howie (2003) suggested that components of a destination should include attractions, accommodation and transport while the essential intangible elements that built up the atmosphere of a destination such as friendliness of the local residents and ambience are also included. Law (1995) also mentioned the secondary features of a destination.
The secondary features were the developments specifically established for tourists, for examples, hotels, catering, transport activities and amusements. The development of a destination’s tourism industry depended on the secondary features available in an area.
Gunn and Var (2002) described that a destination zone should include elements of access, gateway, attraction complexes, communities and linkage between attractions and the community. Simply speaking, the visitors first arrived a destination by different modes of transport that was the access and left the destination through gateway. They also suggested that a destination should provide attractions for visitor activities etc. All these were the basic elements of a destination.
Dickman in the book of Kelly and Nankervis (2001) asserted that the important components of a destination as the 5As which were attractions, accessibility,
10 amenities, accommodation and activities. A tourist destination offering the tourists attractions, accessibility and amenities were three important factors contributing to the success of a destination (Burkart and Medlik 1981 and Holloway 1994). Burkart and
Medlik (1981) further suggested that a tourist destination must also have a tourist organization that formulated and implemented tourism policy.
With reference to Mill and Morrison (1992, p.263) “at a destination there is a mix of interdependent elements. The elements were interdependent because in order to produce a satisfying vacation experience, all elements must be present”. They suggested that the destination was composed of attractions, facilities, infrastructure, transportation and hospitality.
The researcher agreed with Burkart and Medlik (1981, p.256) that “tourist organization can develop and promote the tourist product and enhance the success of the country, region, or town as a tourist destination”. Although the theory of destination mix proposed by Mill and Morrison was constructive that it included almost all the components of a destination, it was not comprehensive or all-round.
The researcher suggested that government policy should be compounded in the theory of destination mix so as the whole model would be more inclusive.
It was suggested that the elements of destination mix should include attractions, amenities, accessibility, hospitality resources and government policy.
Weaver (2006) suggested the typology of attractions that included natural attractions or built attractions. Natural attractions were based on the environmental element such
11 as topography, climate and hydrology. They could be combined with the raw material that built up “semi-built” nature-focused attractions. Built attractions had a large range from pre-historical and historic sites to purpose-built sectors such as theme parks and casinos etc. Middleton and Hawkins (1998, p.161) concluded that “visitor attractions and environmental resources tend to coincide in practice” that they suggested twenty types of resource-based visitor attractions. With reference to the tourism development in Hong Kong, the researcher combined the typologies of visitors attractions suggested by the three scholars that came up with conclusion that attractions were divided into two main categories – natural attractions or built attractions.
With reference to Mill and Morrison (1992), amenities included lodging, food and beverage and other support facilities. Accessibility would access the transportation network as well as the infrastructure. Hospitality resources included hospitality training and community awareness programs. Finally, government policy included tourism policy and statutory tourism authority.
The following table showed the five elements of destination mix and its own content accordingly.
Attractions Natural Attractions 1. National parks 2. Country parks 3. Wetlands 4. Beaches Built Attractions 1. Historic, cultural and heritage properties 2. Museums 3. Temples and mosques 4. Theme parks 5. Streets with special interests 6. Attractions showing the old Hong 12
Kong 7. Modern attractions Amenities Lodging The type of accommodation provided Food and Beverage The type of food and service provided Support Industries Facilities provided that include souvenir or duty-free shops, laundries and guides, festival areas and recreational facilities Accessibility Transportation 1. Transportation terminals 2. Internal transport Infrastructure 1. Water systems 2. Communication networks 3. Health care facilities 4. Power sources 5. Sewage or drainage areas 6. Streets or highways 7. Security systems Hospitality Resources 1. Hospitality Training 2. Community Awareness Programs Government Policy 1. Tourism Policy 2. Statutory Tourism Authority Table 2.1 Elements of destination mix
2.3 Definition of Sustainability
The concept of sustainability has been widely discussed and debated in different field
of studies. Such concept had fast become a global phenomenon since the 1990s
(Swarbrooke 1999). The World Commission on Environment and Development
(WCED) issued “Our Common Future”, commonly known as the Brundtland Report
in 1987 to call for all the participating nation states working on the principle of
environmentally sustainable development. This was the first time the term
“sustainability” had been discussed as a global issue. Fletcher (2005, p.261) refered
13 sustainability defined in the Brundtland Report as “meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs”. However, the Brundtland Report concerned primarily on the environment
(Swarbrooke 1999) and this definition of sustainability was often be described as being simple, unclear, vague and inadequate (Swarbrooke 1999, Wearer 2006, Harris,
Griffin and Williams 2002)
Sustainability was the concept of “fostering development that is least destructive in the long run of the resource upon which it depends” (Gunn and Var 2002, p.81).
According to Page and Rowling (2002, p.15), Jordan concluded the definitions of the term “sustainability”: long-term maintenance of natural resources; minimal adverse environment impacts; appropriate and adequate economic benefits to local communities; optimal production with minimal negative outputs and satisfaction and provision for human social, political and economic needs.
2.4 Sustainable Development
Since the Brundtland Report on sustainability was raised, there has been a considerable amount of literatures on sustainable development. The Rio Conference held in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in 1992 was the first international conference to discuss the issues of the conflicts between economic development and environmental conservation. The World Summit held in Johannesburg in South Africa in 2002 deepened the concept of sustainable development on social, environmental and economic aspects.
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Swarbrooke (1999) asserted that sustainable development was founded on the idea that economic growth had to be in an ecologically sound and socially equitable manner. Wearer (2006, p.10) stated that “sustainable development represents the attractive possibility of continuing economic development that does not unduly strain the earth’s environment, socio-cultural or economic carrying capacity”. Harris, Griffin and Williams (2002) held similar view but raised the question that how sustainable tourism be best achieved or strived to achieve and suggested that sustainable tourism should be developed in a equal manner to access natural resources which created human well-being and in the distribution of the costs and benefits. Hardy and Beeton
(2001) argued that sustainable development was the result of the convergence of economic development theory and environmentalism. It was obviously to see that the concept of “sustainable development” aimed to achieve a balance between economic growth and the environment.
2.5 Sustainable Tourism
Mass tourism became a phenomenon after the Second World War. There have been tremendous literatures assessing the potential impacts of tourism on the environment
(Swarbrooke 1999, Hunter and Green 1995). Yet it was worth identifying that tourism also created a huge impact on the economy and society of the host country (Mathieson and Wall 1982). The concept of sustainable development has influenced the concept of sustainable tourism (Bloyer, Gustke and Yeung 2004). Tourism policy making should be planned in a sustainable way has been suggested since the 1990s (Inskeep
1991 and Gunn and Var 2002).
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Page and Rowling (2002, p.16) suggested that “the underlying concept of sustainable tourism development is the equating of tourism development with ecological and social responsibility. Its aim is to meet the needs of present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing environmental, social and economic values for the future”. They further suggested that sustainable tourism could appear in the form of green tourism, ecotourism and adventure tourism etc. Gunn and Var (2002) asserted that tourism sustainability was about spatial, environmental and economic balance of tourism development. According to Butler (1999), Coccossis concluded that tourism could be interpreted in the context of sustainable tourism in four ways: 1) tourism should be economically sustainable from the sectoral point of view; 2) tourism should be ecologically sustainable from the ecological point of view; 3) tourism should be viable in the long run and recognized the competitiveness of the destination and 4) tourism played a part in the strategy for sustainable development.
Mowforth and Munt (2003) proposed some criteria often used for sustainability in tourism (Fig 2.1). Apart from some of the principles which have been discussed above, they suggested that sustainability in tourism should be sustainable in an educational way, the level of local participation and conservation. Education in the context of sustainable tourism meant that the tourists should be enlightened in the cultural ways and norms of the places that they visited and the host community should be taught and trained so that they would be more capable of catering for the wishes of the tourists who visited them. The level of local participation was the inclusion of the local populations in the tourism development. A community or destination could be provided with an improved quality of life through sustainable tourism practices
(Edgell et al 2008). Last but not the least, conservation of specific elements such as
16 biodiversity or culture of a given area was also discussed.
Criteria often used for sustainability in tourism
Is the lodge, reserve or tour:
1 Sustainable? environmentally socially culturally economically 2 Educational? 3 Locally participatory? 4 An aid to conservation?
Fig 2.1 Criteria often used for sustainability in tourism, Mowforth and Munt (2003)
It was clear to see that different scholars hold different views on the subject of
sustainable tourism and there were more definitions in the literatures trying to define
the term. There was no universally accepted definition on the subject matter. It was, however, commonly accepted and agreed that sustainable tourism was that all resources were organised in such a way that could fulfill economic and social needs.
At the same time ecological process, biological diversity and the ecosystems were all maintained. Other than that, both the tourists and host communities should be educated. And sustainable tourism should encourage local participation and maintain cultural integrity.
In order to measure sustainability, Mowforth and Munt (2003) provided that there were tools of emerging the concept of sustainability into a real life situation. Tab 2.1 showed the tools of sustainability.
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1.Area protection Varying categories of protected are status:
National parks
Wildlife refuges/reserves
Biosphere reserves
Country parks
Biological reserves
Areas of outstanding natural beauty (AONBs)
Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs)
2. Industry regulation
Government legislation
Professional association regulations
International regulation and control
Voluntary self-regulation
Corporate social responsibility
3. Visitor management techniques
Zoning
Honeypots
Visitor dispersion
Channeled visitor flow
Restricted entry
Vehicle restriction
Differential pricing structures
4. Environmental impact assessment
Overlays
Matrices
Mathematical models
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Cost-benefit analysis (COBA)
The materials balance model
The planning balance sheet
Rapid rural appraisal
Geographic information system (GIS)
Environmental auditing
Ecolabelling and certification
5. Carrying capacity calculations
Physical carrying capacity
Ecological carrying capacity
Social carrying capacity
Environmental carrying capacity
Real carrying capacity
Effective or permissible carrying capacity
Limits of acceptable change (LACs)
6. Consultation participation techniques
Meetings!
Publics attitude surveys
Stated preference surveys
Contingent valuation method
The Delphi Technique
7. Codes of conduct
For the tourist
For the industry
For the hosts
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i. Host governments
ii. Host communities
Best practice examples
8. Sustainability indicators
Resource use
Waste
Pollution
Local production
Access to basic human needs
Access to facilities
Freedom from violence and oppression
Access to decision-making process
Diversity of natural and cultural life
Holiday footprinting
Tab 2.2 The Tools of Sustainability, Mowforth and Munt (2003)
2.6 Carrying Capacity
The concept of carrying capacity was often discussed in the content of sustainable
tourism (Iiyama and Susanti 2004). The concept of carrying capacity has been widely used in different field of studies such as biology and economy. Iiyama and Susanti
(2004, p.37) referred to Wager on the definition of carrying capacity as a “level of recreational use an area can withstand while providing a sustained quality of recreation”. Mathieson and Wall (1982, p.21) provided a deeper definition that
“carrying capacity is the maximum number of people who can use a site without an
unacceptable alteration in the physical environment and without an unacceptable 20 decline in the quality of the experience gained by visitors”. It simply referred to the ability of a destination to have tourist activities without deteriorating the environment and the tourist experiences. Mathieson and Wall’s definition considered the physical impact of tourism on a destination. Carrying capacity defined the relationship between the resources base and the market and was influenced by the characteristics of each other (Boniface & Cooper 2005).
In the context of tourism, carrying capacity could be simply defined as the maximum number of tourists that could be contained in a certain destination area (O’Reilly
1986). O’Reilly further suggested that there were two schools of thoughts concerned with the interpretation of carrying capacity. The first school of thought was that the capacity of a destination to absorb tourism before the host community felt the negative impacts of tourism. This was a question of “how many tourists are wanted”.
The second school of thought was that capacity at levels beyond which tourist flows would decline because the tourist perceived that certain capacities had been exceeded.
As a result, the tourists would seek alternative destinations that were attractive and being able to attract them. His ideas were coincidently similar to the definition of
Mathieson and Wall that it was essential to strike a balance both in the physical environment and the quality of the experience of the host community to the visitors.
As discussed above, sustainable tourism not only lied on the content of environmental conservation but also concerned with economic and socio qualities. Carrying capacities existed in the content of environmental, economic and social aspects. As ecological carrying capacity has been mentioned, social carrying capacity will be discussed and defined.
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Social carrying capacity could be defined as “maximum level of use that can be absorbed by an area without an unacceptable decline in the quality of experience of visitors and without an unacceptable adverse impact on the society of the area”
(Saveriades 2000, p.149).
2.7 Destination Life Cycle Model
The concept of destination life cycle has advanced the theory and concept of tourism planning and particularly acted as a conceptual framework to foresee long-term changes and harmonize strategies for land use, economic development and marketing
(Getz 1992). The Destination Life Cycle Model (Fig 2.2) was proposed by Butler in
1980 (Howie 2003) and was derived from the product life cycle concept in marketing.
The Model identified a destination going through different remarkable stages during tourism development. Butler divided the destination life cycle model of a tourist destination into six phrases which were exploration, involvement, development, consolidation, stagnation and a final phase of decline or rejuvenation.
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Fig 2.2 Destination Life Cycle Model, Butler (1980, in Howie 2003)
Howie (2003) provided a clear and full exploration of these six stages. Exploration was a stage in which adventurous or independent travellers in small numbers were drawn to a destination that tourism development was absent and were fascinated by the pristine environment and character of a place. There was very little tourism impact associated with tourism. Involvement was a stage in which local communities decided if it was appropriate to encourage tourism through provision of the facilities that were desired by tourists in cooperation with some local authorities. Some tourism organizations might be set up in this stage. Development was a stage in which the local tourism industry was to grow and consolidate but the decision-making power was not in the hands of the local which over-institutionalization was resulted.
Consolidation was a stage in which the growth rate of tourists and other tourism- related activity were in decline. The local residents resented the growth of tourism.
The destination was no longer the place that once the tourists had once looked
forward to. Stagnation was a stage in which the destination had failed to maintain a
status, the environmental quality was declining and social and economic negative
impacts of tourism were arising. Decline or rejuvenation was the last stage. Decline
23 was a stage in which attempts to stem the decline were inadequate and inappropriate.
Tourists favoured a new or revitalized destination. A destination ought to introspect its tourism policies. Rejuvenation was a stage in which successful strategies were adopted to rejuvenate a destination as a result of introspection and being inspired by other comparable destinations. Successful strategies could be used for repositioning, rejuvenation or finding new markets etc.
Aledo and Mazon (2004) suggested that the destination life-cycle model was applicable and workable in three ways: 1) being a useful tool to have a better understanding of the evolution of a determined tourist destination; 2) serving as a guide for planning and marketing of a destination and 3) predicting the posterior evolution of the destination.
Regarding the Destination Life Cycle Model, the tourism industry in Hong Kong is at the stage of development. The industry is still growing. The HKSAR government has control over the tourism policy. The Tourism Commission implements tourism polices.
The local residents have no say over tourism policies but consultation will be carried out on mega projects that affect the majority of the local community.
2.8 Competitive Advantage
The term competitive advantage was often used in the business context. Competitive advantage means a company outperforms its rivals over profitability (Hill and Jones
2007). Some strategic management literatures concluded that making use of a destination’s unique attributes could earn the competitive advantage (Miller and
24
Henthorne 2007). Barney, from a journal article of Miller and Henthorne (2007), suggested that an industry was said to have competitive advantage greatly depending on resources that were valuable, rare and could not be easily substituted or intimated by the others. Vanhove (2005) concluded that competitive advantages were the result of effective resource deployment. It was about the way how the destination utilized the available resources or the ability of the destination to add value to the available resources.
It was, however, argued by Chambers and McIntosh (2008) that the traditional tourism formula which helped a destination achieve competitive advantage was no longer applicable since the tourism products were easily replaceable worldwide.
Therefore, Dierickx and Cool (1989) advocated the concept of sustainable competitive advantage in the business world. However, the researcher agreed that such concept was also applicable in the field of tourism that competitive advantage should be achieved in a sustainable way. It was only a destination maintained its competitive advantage sustainably, it could compete with other destinations.
2.9 Tourist arrivals of Hong Kong from 1999 to 2009
Counting the total number of people that arrive at a destination was one of the measures of tourism demand (Goeldner and Ritchie 2006). It was estimated by the
World Tourism Organization that Hong Kong would receive 56.6 million tourists by
2020 at an average annual growth rate of 7.1% (World Tourism Organization 2001a).
Fig 2.3 showed the tourists arrivals of Hong Kong from 1999 to 2009 (Hong Kong
Tourism Board. Within these eleven years’ time, the total number of tourist arrivals
25 has tripled from 10 million in 1999 up to 30 million in 2009. Although there was a stark decline in the arrival numbers in 2003 due to the outbreak of SARS (Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome), it showed a sharp rise in 2004 followed by steady increase consecutively until 2009.
Tourist Arrivals of Hong Kong from 1999 to 2009
35,000,000 30,000,000 25,000,000 20,000,000 15,000,000 Number 10,000,000 5,000,000 - 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Year
Fig 2.3 Tourist Arrivals from 1999 to 2009 (source: Hong Kong Tourism Board)
26
Chapter 3 Methodology
This chapter aimed to explain the rationale behind the chosen research methods.
Primary and secondary research method will be adopted in this paper.
3.1 Research proposition
After completing literature review, the researcher has come up with some questions:
1. In what extent destination mix contributed to the success of a destination?
2. Were the elements that make up destination mix sustainable for the present the
future generation?
3. What were the competitive advantages of Hong Kong over the other nations?
3.2 Rationale of the research
Previous studies on investigating the possibility of Hong Kong to become a top 5 tourist destination was relatively few in number so quantitative style or questionnaire- based survey would be inappropriate. Furthermore, the information collected from each different individual such as government representatives, professionals in the industry or scholars might vary considerably. Therefore by collecting information from them and combination of different opinions on different aspects such as literatures, statistics and government reports would make the analysis more comprehensive.
27
Other than in-depth interview, an archival analysis of destination mix of Hong Kong with its sustainability in the long run would be carried out This research method would identify how Hong Kong had such a great potential to become the top 5th destination.
3.3 Research method
Qualitative research was adopted in this study. With reference to Denzin and Lincoln
(1994, p.2) “qualitative research is multimethod in focus, involving interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter”. Qualitative research was a set of interpretive practices with no single methodology over any other. They further suggested that qualitative research involved a collection of a variety of experimental materials which could be case study, personal interview, introspective, life story, interview etc. The researcher in this paper deployed in-depth interviews with three professionals and scholars in the field of tourism, Mr. Howard Young, Professor Ray
Pine and Dr. John Ap, as a primary research method. Secondary research was conducted to analyze the destination mix of Hong Kong in the hope of getting a better fix on the subject matter. After analyzing the destination mix, the competitive advantages of Hong Kong and the possibility of Hong Kong to become the top 5th destination would be found out.
3.4 Primary research
Qualitative interviews were widely used in the preparation of standardized data collection and the development of data collection tools (Hopf 2004). Clark et al. 28
(1998) provided a definition of an interview: ‘the interview as a form of research and method of collecting qualitative data is at its most useful when it gives us insight into how individuals or groups think about their world, how they construct the “reality” of that world.’
The researcher thought that interview was the most appropriate method when achieving the objectives of this study. The prediction made by WTO that Hong Kong could be the top 5th world destination by 2002 was based on long-term and thorough
research conducted worldwide. It might not be easy for the general public to identify
the potential of Hong Kong being a world destination. However, expertise’s and
professionals’ view on such assumption were crucial. They had a better knowledge
and understanding in the field of tourism. Therefore, they were considered to be
interviewed since they could answer all the questions from the point of view of the
professionals.
According to Fontana and Frey (1994, p361), “structured interviewing refers to a
situation in which an interviewer asks each respondent a series of preestablished
questions with a limited set of response categories”. The researcher set ten questions
(see Appendix 1) in advance regarding the questions that this research concerned. The
researcher has a twenty-five-minute telephone interview with Dr. John Ap (see
Appendix 4). The interview was conducted in English (see Appendix 5). Other than
that, the researcher sent e-mails to Mr. Howard Young and Professor. Ray Pine asking
them to express their opinions on the issues. The researcher got a reply in written
form from both Mr. Young (see Appendix 2) and Professor Pine (see Appendix 3).
29
“Elite interviews are with persons who are leaders or experts in a community, who are usually in powerful position”. (Kavle and Brinkmann 2009, p.147). Mr. Howard
Young had been working as the General Manager in Cathay Pacific Airways since
1989 and was a member of the Legislative Council who represented the field of
Tourism in the Functional Constituencies (HongKongProfile.com 2010). It was no doubt that Mr. Young’s working experience in the industry could contribute to the findings of this research.
Both Professor Ray Pine and Dr. John Ap are scholars in the field of tourism.
Professor Ray Pine is currently a lecturer of Sheffield Hallam University (in cooperation of School for Higher and Professional Education Chai Wan Hong Kong) and Dr. John Ap is currently an associate professor of School of Hotel and Tourism
Management of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. They both have been knowledgeable and experienced in teaching tourism management. Their opinions on the issues contributed a lot to this study.
3.5 Secondary research
“If information is already available which will answer the research questions posed, then it would be wasteful of resources to collect new information for the purpose”
(Veal 2006, p.97). The existing data was used to carry out the research. It was important for the researcher to identify the relevance, reliability and availability of the existing data. The researcher has reviewed an enormous amount of sources to review the destination mix of Hong Kong. Much of the secondary date was collected from the following resources:
30
3.5.1 Books:
Hong Kong 2008
3.5.2 Journals articles:
Yau, Oliver H.M and Chan, C.F (1990). Hong Kong as a travel destination in South- east Asia: a multidimensional approach. Tourism Management, 11(2), 123-132.
Choi, W.M., Chan, Andrew and Wu, Janice (1999). A qualitative and quantitative assessment of Hong Kong’s image as a tourist destination. Tourism Management, 20(3), 361-365.
Enright, Michael, J and Newton, James (2004). Tourism destination competitiveness: a quantitative approach. Tourism Management, 25(6), 777-788.
3.5.3 Governmental authorities and their website:
Hong Kong Tourism Board (http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/)
Tourism Commission (http://www.tourism.gov.hk/english/welcome/welcome.html)
Census and Statistics Department (http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/home/index.jsp)
3.5.4 Government Documents
The Budget 2010-2011
Policy Address 2009-1020
3.5.5 Websites
http://partnernet.hktb.com/
31
3.5.6 Newspapers
South China Morning Post
3.5.7 Annual Reports
Hong Kong Tourism Board A Statistical Review of Hong Kong Tourism 1999-2008
3.6 Constraints on the research
Hertz and Imber discussed in Kavle and Brinkmann (2009) that it was a key problem to obtain access to the interviewees when studying elites. Since Mr. Young and
Professor Pine had a very tight work schedule. Therefore, time didn’t allow them to have a face-to-face interview with the researcher. They replied the researcher in a written form by e-mails. The researcher could not get instant responses from the interviewee and it was impossible for the interviewer to formulate impromptu questions in order to follow up leads that emerged during the interview. Other than that, only three interviewees were interviewed and therefore the research sampling was relatively small.
Using secondary data contributed massively to this study. However, some current data has not yet been available and therefore it might affect the accuracy of the results in some ways. Then, there have not been sufficient official government statistics or academic journals about the tourism development and its sustainability in Hong Kong.
It was difficult to evaluate whether the information on hand was reliable, accurate and appropriate. Other than that, some of the secondary data collected seemed relevant and eventually could not be applied in this study. The researcher found that it was
32 impossible to get access to some academic journals which were considered useful and informative. Last but not least, time was also a limitation (Veal 2006). There have been loads of information and time constraints limited the researcher to go through all the resources.
3.7 Strengths and weaknesses of the research
“Developing the interview as a research method involves a challenge to renew, broaden, and enrich the conceptions of knowledge and research” (Kvale 1996, p.10).
Primary research enabled the researcher to search data which existing data was not comprehensive. The primary data searched in this paper was accurate since the researcher collected the data for primary use. Secondary data existed to be a complement with the primary data that both sources playing a crucial role in assisting the researcher to analyze and development arguments. This was the strengths of this research.
However, some might consider that the primary data collected was subjective since it was the opinions of different interviewees. It might affect the reliability of the data.
Moreover, some statistics related to the field of tourism was dated back to the 1990s.
Therefore, the statistics have not been up-to-date. If the statistics were used to support the arguments in this study, it might affect the accuracy of this study. This was the weakness of this research.
33
3.8 Post research evaluation
It was a very valuable experience for the researcher to interview the person who has been working in the field of tourism. Although it was a pity that the researcher could not have a face-to-face interview with the three interviewees, the opinions expressed have contributed a lot to this study considerably. However, it was very difficult to get access to the elites. If the researcher had the time again, it would be appropriate to interview each individual interviewee face-to-face. The researcher recognized that it was critically important to formulate impromptu questions in order to follow up leads that emerged during the interview. Other than that, the researcher would like to spend more time on information research if more time was allowed.
34
Chapter 4 Results
This chapter aims to interpret the findings of this study and make an analysis.
4.1 Finding
4.1.1 Attractions
There have been many tourist attractions in Hong Kong that attract visitors because of certain characteristics. The researcher would first categorize the tourist attractions into natural and built attractions from the information provided from Hong Kong Tourism
Board’s website discoverhongkong.com (2010).
4.1.1.1 Natural attractions
4.1.1.1.a National Parks
Hong Kong National Geopark located in North-East of the New Territories which features the geographical landscapes within the territory. The Tourism Commission is currently promoting green tourism in the Northeast New Territories and outlying islands
35
4.1.1.1.b Country Parks
Country Parks play an important role in shaping the natural landscapes of Hong Kong.
Country parks include: Aberdeen Country Park, Pok Fu Lam Country Park, Tai Tam
Country Park, Kam Shan Country Park, Lantau Country Park, Lion Rock Country
Park, Pat Sin Leng Country Park and Sai Kung Country Park.
4.1.1.1.c Wetlands
There are four nature reserves in Hong Kong and Mai Po Wetland is one of them.
Wetland Park is newly opened serving as an educational purpose attraction that offers ecotourism experience.
4.1.1.1.d Beaches
Hong Kong owns a beautiful coastline and thus the beaches are fascinating. Beaches include Repulse Bay, Stanley Beach, Deep Water Bay and Shek O etc.
4.1.1.2 Built attractions
4.1.1.2.a Historic, cultural and heritage properties
Hong Kong has been very rich in her history content since under the governance of
Great Britain and after the handover ceremony in 1997. Historic, cultural and heritage
36 properties include Golden Bauhinia Square, Western Market, 1881 Heritage, The Peak,
Victoria Harbour, Stanley Market and Murray House, Giant Buddha,
4.1.1.2.b Museums
There have been a significant numbers of museums in Hong Kong that provides the local residents and tourists to review her history and development. Major museums include Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum, Heritage Museum, Museum of Art, Museum of
History, Science Museum and Space Museum. Museum of special interests include
Sam Tung Uk Museum, Sheung Yiu Folk Museum, Railway Museum, Racing
Museum, Film Archive Lei Cheng Uk and Han Tomb Museum etc.
4.1.1.2.c Temples and Mosques
Hong Kong is a Chinese society and still adopts some ceremonial practices and temples and mosques are the best way to demonstrate these. Temples and mosques include Po Lin Monastery, Chi Lin Nunnery, Sha Tin Che Kung Temple, Wong Tai
Sin Temple, Hung Shing Temple at Sai Kung, Man Mo Temple at Sheung Wan and
Yuen Yuen Institute etc.
4.1.1.2.d Theme parks
Theme park has played a dominant role in boosting the total tourist arrivals of Hong
Kong since Ocean Park serves the community as an educational theme park and world-class Hong Kong Disneyland internationally attracts tourists from different part of the world. 37
4.1.1.2.e Streets with special interests
Streets in Hong Kong have been very famous because some streets are specializing in doing businesses selling and trading particular goods. Streets with special interest included Tung Choi Street (Ladies Market), Temple Street Night Market, Cheung Sha
Wan Road Fashion Street, Apliu Street, Jade Street and Jade Market, Yuen Po Street
Bird Garden, Flower Market, Goldfish Market, Hollywood Road and Cat Street etc.
4.1.1.2.f Attractions showing the old Hong Kong
The old Hong Kong has been very fascinating since she was only a small fishing village that turned into an international cosmopolitan world city. Attractions include
Tai O Fishing Village and Stitle-house, Aberdeen and Jumboo Kingdom, Kowloon
Walled City Park, Clock Tower and Lei Yue Mun Seafood Bazaar etc.
4.1.1.2.g Modern attractions
There have been some attractions of Hong Kong which have been established and developed since 2000s. These modern attractions included Madame Tussauds, Avenue of Stars, Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo, Ngong Ping 360 and Ma Wan Park Noah’s Ark etc.
38
4.1.2 Amenities
4.1.2.1 Lodging
According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board Hotel Classification System 2009
(partnernet.hktb.com 2010a), the hotels in Hong Kong would be categorized into four categories which were High Tariff A Hotels, High Tariff B Hotels, Medium Tariff
Hotels and Tourist Guesthouses. Surveys conducted in 2008 by Hong Kong Tourism
Board indicated that there were 24 High Tariff A Hotels, 48 High Tariff B Hotels, 66
Medium Tariff Hotels, 546 Tourist Guesthouses and 149 other hotels which could not be classified into different tariff categories of hotels (partnernet.hktb.com 2010b).
4.1.2.2 Food and Beverage
Food and Beverage services are provided in most hotels. According to the Food and
Environmental Hygiene Department, a total number of 10802 general restaurant and light refreshment restaurant were issued with Food Business Licenses in 2008.
Catering services were provided through every corner of Hong Kong. Other than that,
5494 liquor and club liquor were issued with Liquor Licenses so that alcoholic drinks could be sold in the restaurant.
4.1.2.3 Support industries
On the most popular tourist attractions in Hong Kong such as the Peak, Stanley
39 market, Ladies Streets etc, souvenir shops provide the tourists with pleasure shopping experience. There are laundries services provided in most hotels in Hong Kong. Hong
Kong has long been dubbed the shoppers’ paradise. There are glitzy malls, funky street markets, trendy boutiques, traditional Chinese product stores and theme shopping districts. Signage is clearly shown on most commercial distracts such as
Central, Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay etc.
Quality Tourism Services (QTS) Scheme has been launched to help tourists to buy guaranteed and qualified goods under this recognition.
4.1.3 Accessibility
4.1.3.1 Transportation
4.1.3.1.1 Transportation terminals
4.1.3.1.1.a Airports
Hong Kong International Airport, commonly known as Chek Lap Kok International
Airport, serves as a transport hub for East Asia. The airport is the third busiest for passenger traffic and the busiest for cargo in terms of international traffic since its operation in 1998.
4.1.3.1.1.b Ports and Harbours
40
Victoria Harbour serves as the biggest port in Hong Kong handling about 220 000 ships annually which includes oceanliners and river vessels. Macau Ferry Terminal and China Ferry Terminal provide ferry services. Kwai Chung Terminal is served as a container port for goods. Kap Shui Mun is the western entrance and Lei Yue Mun is the eastern entrance of Hong Kong’s port.
4.1.3.1.1.c Cross-border traffic
There are three road crossing between Hong Kong and the Mainland at Lok Ma Chau,
Man Kam To and Sha Tau Kok. The MTR Corporation operates Lo Wu Line and Lok
Ma Chau Spur Line for rail crossing services.
4.1.3.1.2 Internal transport
4.1.3.1.2.a Public transport
Mass Transport System has been well developed in Hong Kong. Bus, Mass Transit
Railway (MTR), ferry, taxi, minibus all provided public transport services to the general public, even 24-hour services, to make the transport network in Hong Kong excellent.
4.1.3.2 Infrastructure
41
4.1.3.2.a Water systems
Hong Kong's two main sources of water are rainfall from natural catchment and supply from Guangdong. Water Supplies Department is responsible for water supply and management. The department guarantees stable water supply. Hotels in Hong
Kong provide twenty four hours hot water.
4.1.3.3.b Communication networks
Communication networks have been well developed in Hong Kong. According to the
Office of the Communication Authority (2010), there were about 4.1 million exchange lines in 2009. The telephone destiny was 100.2 lines per 100 households.
About 79% of household in Hong Kong used broadband services. Wi-Fi services are provided by the government to the public in 365 government premises and up to 8800
Wi-Fi hotspots. Most hotels in Hong Kong provide guestroom International Direct
Dial (IDD) services, fax services and internet services.
4.1.3.3.c Health care facilities
There are 15 public hospitals under the Hospital Authority that provide Accident and
Emergency (A&E) Services. Some private hospitals also provide A&E services. Most
hotels had a medical clinic with registered nurses. Doctors, dentists and pharmacists
are trained and registered.
42
4.1.3.3.d Power sources
Electricity in Hong Kong is provided by CLP Power Hong Kong Limited and Hong
Kong Electric. CLP supplies electricity in the New Territory, Kowloon Peninsula and
Lantau Island while Hong Kong Electric supplies electricity on the Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island.
4.1.3.3.e Sewage and drainage areas
Sewage treatment is under the responsibility of Drainage Services Department.
Sewage treatment facilities are throughout the New Territories, Kowloon Peninsula,
Hong Kong Island and outlying islands to provide stable drainage services.
4.1.3.3.f Streets or highways
Paved highways in Hong Kong are built to British standards with maximum of three lanes with hard shoulders. There are nine roads classified as highways in Hong Kong.
There were twelve tunnels in Hong Kong of which three were cross-harbour tunnels.
4.1.3.3.g Security systems
The Hong Kong Police Force is responsible for maintaining the safety in the city.
Policeman would patrol on the streets and there were numerous police stations and reporting centres that the policemen will offer help to the tourists when they are in
43 need.
4.1.4 Hospitality Resources
4.1.4.1 Hospitality Training
Both full-time or part-time travel and tourism-related courses are offered at different post-secondary institutions to provide academic and vocational training to the people who pursue their career path in the field of hospitality and tourism.
4.1.4.2 Community Awareness Programs
The Tourism Commission launched the “A Hospitable Hong Kong” since 2001 to promote the hospitality culture among the Hong Kong people.
4.1.5 Government Policy
4.1.5.1 Tourism policy
Tourism is one of the Four Key Industries in the Hong Kong economy along with financial services, trading and logistics and producer and professional services. The policy for tourism is addressed every year in the Policy Address by the Chief
Executive. The Budget proposed by the Financial Secretary every day financially supports the government’s policy on tourism. The government has been very 44 supportive in the development of tourism. In 2009, the government enhanced Hong
Kong as an international convention, exhibition and tourism capital and developed a wide variety of diversified tourist attractions such as the redevelopment plan of Ocean
Park and expansion plan of Hong Kong Disneyland.
4.1.5.2 Statutory Tourism Authority
The Tourism Commission is mainly responsible for formulating and coordinating implementation of policies, strategies and plans for tourism development. It also coordinates the work of other government departments on policies that would impact tourism development. The Tourism Commission works closely with Hong Kong
Tourism Board (HKTB) in promoting tourism development in Hong Kong. HKTB is a marketing agency being responsible for marketing and promoting Hong Kong as a world destination in the overseas market.
4.2 Analysis
The current tourism development of Hong Kong was fit in the content of destination mix above. The following analysis would examine each component of destination mix and whether it would be sustainable.
4.2.1 Attraction analysis
1. Would you give some comments on the tourist attractions in Hong Kong? Are they attractive enough to get the tourists to make a return visit?
Mr. Young: Attractions of shopping, hustle bustle city life, the view of harbour,
45 peak, Ocean Park etc attract first time and repeat visitors. Very few cities are able to attract repeat visitors such as London, New York. Hong Kong is one of them.
Professor Pine: Business travellers will return very often as Hong Kong is a global business centre. However, I feel that for most leisure travellers Hong Kong is a one- visit destination.
Dr. Ap: They are generally okay. The government has to continue improving and increasing the number of attractions and broaden the product base. Traditionally, Hong Kong has always been regarded as a hotspot or interesting places to visit. But whether the tourists would revisit is debatable. If the attractions have no change or update then what makes the visitors revisit? I want to address a problem that the air pollution is a worry. Let’s say for example the tourists can’t see the nice view from The Peak. The government has to be really careful of this issue.
According to the three interviewees, they recognize that some tourist attractions in
Hong Kong are appealing to the tourists. However, it is questionable whether the attractions are attractive enough to get the tourists to make a return visit so as to boost the tourist inflow. It is consistent with the survey conducted by Enright and Newton
(2004) indicating that Hong Kong has a weakness in tourist attractions
Although Hong Kong is only a city, it offers a wide variety of tourist attractions to tourists. The determinant of attraction sustainability was that it must promote environmental friendliness and practise this claim and thus a high degree of publicity and a high economic return would be experienced (Hassan 2000). The Tourism
Commission is currently promoting green tourism which is a form of sustainable tourism in the Northeast New Territories and outlying islands. The Wetland Park is an outdoor reserve area serving the community with an educational and conservational purpose. Regarding the natural attractions ranging from national parks, country parks, wetlands to beaches, they serve the public as natural attractions and raise the awareness of the public of the importance of environmental conservation so that the local community can enjoy the tranquility of natural environment. Both the environment and the local residents reach a harmonious relationship. It is believed 46 that the natural attractions can be sustainable environmentally.
Other than the natural attractions, built attractions should also adopt sustainable practice. Ocean Park has adopted sustainability in the park management (Ocean Park
Hong Kong 2010). The Peak and Star Ferry are both the landmark of Hong Kong as indicated by Choi, Chan and Wu (1999) in the image survey. Night view from the
Peak and seeing Victoria Harbour by ferry also ranked significantly high. However, the government should put effort to tackle the air pollution problem with recent deteriorating air quality so that the view from the Peak and Victoria will not be clouded.
4.2.2 Amenities analysis
2. Would you give some comments on the amenities in Hong Kong such as accommodation, catering and other support industries?
Mr. Young: Accommodation at top end of market and catering in Hong Kong is excellent. What is lacking is good lower end facilities. There is no bed and breakfast industry in Hong Kong like Europe/Australia because of crowded Hong Kong family conditions.
Professor Pine: These are all excellent quality and very diverse in range/type, especially when compared with other major cities in the world.
Dr. Ap: Accommodation has good ranges. Some are the best of the world such as The Peninsula and Mandarin Oriental. They are five stars hotels. We have certain restaurants which are well known and at the top of the ranges. We have fine dinning establishments particularly in the hotels but the problem is the inconsistency of service quality. The support industries are problematic, for example, the street vendors. They are not ethical and unscrupulous. They cheat on the tourists.
According to the three interviewees, they all had positive comments on the lodging
and food and beverage services provided in Hong Kong mentioning that “excellent”
especially what were categorized as the High Tariff A hotels. They also commented
that the wide variety of hotel choices for different groups of tourists. Similarly, in the 47 survey conducted by Yau and Chan (1990), it has already indicated that Hong Kong held an advantageous position than other countries in terms of “services of hotels and restaurants” and “shopping and accommodation”.
Food and beverage service was also good in Hong Kong. Enright and Newton in 2004 also conducted survey on the competitiveness of Hong Kong indicating that the city rated high in cuisine. Hong Kong’s reputation as a preferred place for gourmets and food lovers was enhanced by the publishers of the Michelin Guide which featured the city’s culinary skills and attractions (Michelin Corporate 2010).
Hong Kong was identified of being a shopping paradise (Yau and Chan 1990, Choi,
Chan and Wu 1999) with high rates in “wide variety of products”, “good quality of products” and “good tourist information”. However, Dr. Ap commented that some business practices in Hong Kong, especially the street vendors, were not ethical.
Clearly, it would taint the image of Hong Kong as a shopping paradise.
It is no doubt that lodging and food and beverage services have long been excellent according to the comments of the interviewees and the surveys. As long as the service providers in the lodging and food and beverage sectors keep up with the standard, it would easily attract return business. In such a way, this sector can be economically sustainable.
Regarding the issue of unethical business practice, the introduction of Quality
Tourism Scheme is a tool to tackle the problem as long as HKTB greatly emphasizes this scheme to the tourists. The fear that they would buy unqualified or faked goods
48 will be minimized.
4.2.3 Accessibility analysis
3. What do you think about the internal and external transportation network in Hong Kong?
Mr. Young: Support facilities such as mass transit and airlines are excellent. Local transport is also attractively priced.
Professor Pine: Again excellent. Flying, ferries and buses are all very well organised. Local transportation is amongst the best and cheapest in the world.
Dr. Ap: Basically excellent. In terms of internal transportation system such as MTR and bus. They are one of the best in the world. They are clean and the frequency is very good. If you live in a Western country and catch a train, you have to look at the timetable but you don’t need to look at the timetable in Hong Kong. Transportation is regarded as excellent.
According to the three interviewees, they all commented positively on the
accessibility of Hong Kong. The transportation system was regarded as excellent.
Their opinions were consistent with the survey conducted by Enright and Newton
(2004) that Hong Kong had substantial strengths in terms of international access and
internal transportation facilities. The results have been further enhanced that Hong
Kong International Airport has been voted “Airport of the Year” seven times by
Skytrax World Airport Awards (BrandHK 2010). Hong Kong International Airport
manages to sustain the airport in the long run by establishing a harmony with the
environment by minimizing pollution, using energy and other resource efficiently and
recycling and reusing (Airport Authority Hong Kong 2010). MTR is a popular public
transport in Hong Kong. The corporation has adopted sustainable principles in
business practices since 2001 (MTR 2009). Corporate social responsibility is a tool for sustainability.
49
The communication network in Hong Kong is well developed. The telephone destiny was 100.2 lines per 100 households which was the highest in the world. The number of households using broadband services was the highest in the world.
(Communication Authority 2010). The price of service for telecommunications in
Hong Kong is not high due to open market that leads to keen competition between the service providers. The Hong Kong residents pay low price while enjoying high quality service. The tourists can also benefit when they need communication services while staying in Hong Kong. It is socially sustainable.
Hong Kong is generally a safe city to visit. The city is socially stable with low crime rate. According to the statistics of Hong Kong Police Force (2010), reported crimes in
2008 totalled 78469, a decrease of 2.9 per cent compared with 80796 in 2007. The crime rate stood at 1125 cases per 100000 population. The figure was significant because compared with other world-class cities such as London and Paris, where the crime rate was 11600 cases and 11329 cases per 100000 population respectively,
Hong Kong is obviously a safe city. Such claim is consistent with Enright and
Newton’s (2004) survey indicating that Hong Kong ranked high in terms of safety.
4.2.4 Hospitality resources analysis
4. Would you give some comments on the hospitality resources of Hong Kong such as hospitality related training, the degree of local community welcoming the tourists and the attitude of the service providers etc?
Mr. Young: Training by Universities and Vocational Training Council is adequate to supply management manpower. Teaching is easily applied to practice because of the large tourism industry. The local community got to realise the importance of tourists and tourism especially after it became obvious to all after the swift recovery of the economy after SARS in 2003 due to tourism influx, especially from mainland China. Service providers flocked to learn and use Putonghua in the recent decade and half. Attitude amongst service providers is very good at higher end of market, but less so for the lower end. 50
Professor Pine: Vocational training/education is very well supported and will get even better once the new secondary education system is introduced. Local community is generally welcoming, and getting better all the time. Service attitude is generally good.
Dr. Ap: In terms of training, we have ranges of institutions offering training that ranges from certificate to study at PhD, they are in huge demand. But training is not sufficient. The service industry and tourism industry are so huge. It is not easy to get good quality skilled staff. One of the problems is that the concept of service of Hong Kong people is very “Asian”. They focus on courtesy and efficiency. They are not proactive. They tend to be reactive in the way they provide and deliver services. Their services and service-related jobs are in terms of master-servant relationship which contrasts to the Western approach to services. They are proactive and interactive experience. The relationship between the service providers and guests is a lot closer. Asian has a high power distance. The culture concept in terms of hierarchy is very prominent for Asian culture. The attitude of local residents on tourists becomes significant. The recognition of that during the SARS period when people realised how important the tourism industry is. Certainly attitude towards the Mainland guests has changed. Over time the mainland Chinese would become more experienced and sophisticated. When people have more travel experience and become more aware of the international standard, they observe the local customs and practice. The service providers deliver inconsistent service. Some are good that they deliver services in an appropriate manner but some are not appropriate. They may damage the image of Hong Kong and the level of services the industry provided.
Mr. Young and Dr. Ap mentioned that Hong Kong people realised how important the
tourism industry was after the outbreak of SARS dated back in 2003. The attitude of
Hong Kong residents towards tourists, especially mainland tourists, has been changed.
Hong Kong people have started learning Putonghua (Chow 2002). The Tourism
Commission launched the “A Hospitable Hong Kong” since 2001 was significant.
Rating on hospitality of Hong Kong people by all the major markets scored 78.6 out
of 100 in 2008 (Hong Kong Tourism Board 2009). Hong Kong people recognize the
importance of tourism industry to the local economy and score a satisfactory rating in
terms of hospitality, it can be predicted that Hong Kong would be as hospitable as
possible in order to sustain the growth of tourism.
51
However, it is identified that training within the hospitality sector is not adequate.
According to the three interviewees, the hospitality-related training is inadequate or insufficient. The issue of lack of skilled staff is raised. If the hospitality training in
Hong Kong is not enough to meet the future tourism demand to supply qualified and skilled staff, it would become a problem. It was indicated that Hong Kong rated below average in staff skills (Enright and Newton 2004). Dr. Ap also identified the problem of inconsistent service quality of the service providers. Services are generally good in the up market hotels but not the same case in the lower end market. Service quality has been regarded important in the customer-oriented industry like the tourism industry. The government is better advised to tackle this issue seriously.
4.2.5 Government policy analysis
5. What government policies should be adopted in order to make the tourism development in Hong Kong ecologically, economically and socially sustainable?
Mr. Young: Government could encourage more tourism related infrastructure (such as the building of the cruise terminal and expanding the airport and high speed train) and treat these as a social investment such as our roads, instead of a pure commercial enterprise. Investments and co-operation with Guangdong on improving air quality is also needed.
Professor Pine: Main one is clean air - much more needs to be done to stop pollution.
Dr. Ap: To have a tourism master plan. That is a key problem and a critical issue. Basically the government totally lacks commitment to the environment, ecology and social sustainability. Planning is to guide the direction and incorporate those policies with the values. However, the approach of the government is to look after the developers’ interest and businesses nowadays and don’t care too much about the environment. Look at the air pollution problem. The Budget comes out every year and it always mentions about the environment but just gives very little money.
6. What improvements should be made to make Hong Kong a sustainable tourist destination?
Mr. Young: Improvements could include more investment and encouragement of 52 culture and cuisine to assimilate West End and Broadway which causes tourists to return to London and New York. This will also help correct the imbalance tilted towards shopping.
Professor Pine: Cleaner transportation and other road vehicles - these not only contribute to pollution but at ground level create a very "smelly" and obvious source of discomfort.
Dr. Ap: Get to rethink the whole approach. The government needs to focus on the improvement of quality of life of Hong Kong citizens. What benefits the local residents will also benefit the tourists. Also, it is important to tackle the air pollution problem.
Although the government proposes a wide range of policy to support the tourism
industry every year, it is surprised to find that the government has done a very little to
adopt a sustainable planning approach. Worse still, with reference to Dr. Ap, the government lacks a tourism master plan. This result is consistent with the finding of
Enright and Newton (2004) that Hong Kong rated below average in government policy in terms of competitiveness.
The Policy Address proposed by the Chief Executive every year raises different policies on tourism development. However, it is found out that The Budget prepared by the Financial Secretary has little financial assistance. For example, there has been rare financial fund to the tourism sector in The Budget 2010-2011 despite a 25- million-fund for Mega Event Fund (The Budget 2010-2011 2009).
Planning is the first priority in tourism development. Many literature reviews have already suggested that sustainable practice should be incorporated in policy making in today’s society (Inskeep 1991 and 1994, Edgell et al 2008). The fact that Hong Kong lacks a master tourism plan is a sign that the government lacks commitment to the tourism industry, let alone the practice of sustainable tourism.
53
Although the Tourism Commission is currently promoting green tourism which is a form of sustainable tourism in the Northeast New Territories and outlying islands as indicated in attractions analysis previously, the concepts of sustainable tourism has not been incorporated in the tourism policies. Although it is seen such practice emphasizes environmental conservation, how the local community could be benefited from tourism growth has not been emphasized. Other than that, how the public and private sector could be benefited has not been addressed either. Sustainable tourism should incorporate concepts of sustainability into the policies that include a harmonious relationship among the local communities, different sectors in the society and the environment. At the very least, as stressed by Dr. Ap, the local community would benefit with improved quality of life.
The government’s failure to adopt sustainable policy can also been seen in the deteriorating air quality. With references to the three interviewees, they all voiced that it is the first priority for the government to tackle the problem of air pollution. The poor air quality not only affects the overall impression of tourists visiting Hong Kong, but also has negative impact on the local businesses that call for actions from the government (Wassener 2010).
4.2.6 Competitive advantage analysis
7. What are the competitive advantages of Hong Kong being a destination?
Mr. Young: Competitive are hardware and software: natural hardware is Hong Kong's geographic location and harbour. Manmade hardware is excellent airport, transport infrastructure, theme parks, shopping facilities and hotels. Software is service culture, well trained staff and linguistic ability in English, Putonghua and Cantonese.
Processor Pine: Excellent transportation connections with very easy/efficient immigration access plus a very dynamic cosmopolitan atmosphere. 54
Dr. Ap: First, the location and proximity of Hong Kong being at the heart of Asia. Second, culture. Hong Kong has a unique colonial history. Third, modernization. Transportation is very effective. Last, unique attractions that you don’t find else where such as Ngong Ping 360, Po Lin Monastery and Victoria Harbour.
According to the three interviewees, they all share the same opinions that Hong Kong has been placed at an unbeatable position of excellent geographical location and well- developed transportation network. These two factors are the foundation underpinning the city’s success.
China is nowadays a strong economic power in the world. Hong Kong geographically has a substantial advantage in location being a gateway to China. Since then, it emerges many business opportunities. Hong Kong has a strong cooperation with mainland China in financial service, trade, logistics and tourism. Also, Hong Kong is located at the heart of Asia that the city acts as a hub for people coming in and out of the Asian cities or on their way to the Oceania.
The well-developed transportation network is strength of Hong Kong. Over 90 per cent of commuters’ daily journeys in Hong Kong are made on Hong Kong highly efficient public transport network which is the highest rate in the world (BrandHK
2010). It is an indicator to state that Hong Kong is a convenient and accessible city.
4.2.7 Problems facing the tourism industry in Hong Kong analysis
8. What are the challenges the tourism industry in Hong Kong has to face nowadays?
Mr. Young: Challenges are that man made hardware can be replicated by competitors (New theme parks in Singapore and Shanghai) and software of others can improve. The airport also needs more capacity to support growth.
55
Professor Pine: Biggest challenge is future downturn of mainland Chinese tourism market as they travel further afield or stay at home to visit increasingly competitive cities inside China.
Dr. Ap: One got to look at broadening the product base. There is no tourism master planning conducted for the development of tourism. The challenge that Hong Kong has to face is that we don’t start undertaking some master tourism planning. What we are going to have in the future is cruise terminal and there is not other projects coming under screen. That is the responsibility of the Tourism Commission and particular the government. It is a huge worry. I realise in five years’ time what is new in Hong Kong is nothing new because there is no plan.
9. What are the factors that you think may affect the growth of tourist development in Hong Kong?
Mr. Young: The capacity of airport and air pollution can adversely affect growth.
Professor Pine: Continued support from mainland government, and more effort by our government to improve facilities overall (e.g. cultural area in Kowloon, cruise terminal, improvement of Disney and Ocean Park, other "big" infrastructure - bridge to Juhai/Macau. high speed rail link, more runways at airport, etc.).
Dr. Ap: First, there is a lack of government direction and ambition about tourism. The absence of tourism master planning is a major problem. Second, air pollution and quality of life issue is not addressed. Third, the policy of the PRC government. What happen in the future is that a lot of tourists coming to Hong Kong are driven by the Chinese policy in terms of tourism. The Chinese government dictates too much. China is a dominant market in Hong Kong at the moment but it would disappear if the Chinese government changes the policy for whatever reasons. They announce the policy without any consultation and explanation. The industry just has to endure with it.
Although Hong Kong has unbeatable competitive advantages, the city still has to take
some challenges when developing tourism. Dated back to the 1990s, a study
conducted by Yau and Chan (1990) emerged that Bangkok was the keen competitor of
Hong Kong followed by Singapore. In 2004, a study conducted by Enright and
Newton indicated that Singapore was Hong Kong’s principal competitor followed by
Bangkok and, Tokyo and Shanghai. It is obvious to see that Hong Kong would be
facing keen competition with other destinations that have similar destinations
attributes.
56
Professor Pine emerged that Hong Kong would be facing competition with other
Chinese inner cities. Mr. Young pointed out that man-made hardware, for example, attractions, can be easily replicated by the competitors. This can be seen that an international theme park Disneyland located in Hong Kong while Singapore is keen to have Universal Studios that would compete directly with Hong Kong in the similar sources of tourists.
It is significant to know that Hong Kong’s tourism industry greatly depends on the
Chinese government’s policies. Professor Pine stated that Hong Kong’s tourism growth has to seek continued support from mainland government. However, Dr. Ap indicated that the Chinese government dictates too much in policies. Visitors from
Mainland Chinese are the dominant source of tourists visiting Hong Kong nowadays.
Hong Kong received 30 million tourists in 2009 while mainland Chinese tourists counted for 50 per cent of the total tourist arrivals. It is worth paying attention to the fact that the Chinese government’s policies play a crucial part in influencing Hong
Kong’s tourism industry. It is clear to see that the introduction of Individual Visit
Scheme helps boosts the total tourist arrivals of Hong Kong. However, it also emerged that Hong Kong relies too much on the support of the Chinese government.
The effect of Chinese government’s policy has shown on Macau. The Chinese government imposed visa restriction on the visitors from coming to Macau with only once in every three months has taken a toll on the Macau’s economy (Badri 2009).
4.2.8 Possibility of Hong Kong being a top 5th destination analysis
10. Do you think Hong Kong has the potential to become a top 5th destination of the world by 2020? If yes, why do you think so? If no, what makes you 57
disagree with this prediction?
Mr. Young: When WTO talks about Hong Kong as a fifth largest destination, it overlooks the fact the Hong Kong is only a city, while Spain, Italy, UK, USA, and France are huge countries. As for growth figures predicted for 2020 I think they are realistic and can be achieved if capacity constraints can be resolved. If one were to compare city with city, I am sure Hong Kong would probably already rank number one. The ranking not only depends on Hong Kong's growth, but the growth of other destinations being compared. Favourable factors include a. Tourism is and will probably remain one of the highest growth industries worldwide. b. We are geographically near to many high growth tourism generating regions. c. Hong Kong private and public sector has the financial strength to invest in tourism facilities.
Professor Pine: Absolutely yes. Mainly in relation to connections with China - that is mainland people travelling here and others using Hong Kong as a route into and out of China.
Dr. Ap: Yes. It is led by the mainland Chinese. Hong Kong tourism, particularly at present, has been largely dictated by Chinese mainland government policy. If it wasn’t for the mainland tourists, Hong Kong’s tourism industry would be in a serious trouble.
According to the three interviewees, they all agreed that Hong Kong has the
possibility to become the top 5th world destination by 2020. The fundamental reason
underpinning this prediction is that the growth of China market. Professor Pine and Dr.
Ap have analyzed that Hong Kong tourism industry is largely founded on the arrival
of mainland Chinese visitors. According to World Tourism Organization (2001b),
forecasts of tourist arrivals in Hong Kong by main markets indicated that China will
be the dominant market of inbound tourism of Hong Kong.
By the same survey, WTO indicated that outbound travel from China will grow at
around three times the global outbound rate at 12.8 per cent annually from 1995-2020.
China will be the principle tourist generating countries. It is expected that there will
be 100 million Chinese outbound tourist arrivals by 2020. It is also expected that
Hong Kong will remain the main destination for Chinese travellers.
58
Since the introduction of Individual Visit Scheme in 2003, it has already showed that the number of Chinese tourist arrivals has doubled from 8 million in 2003 to 16.8 million in 2008 within 6 years’ time. Fig 5.1 shows the trend. WTO has made the prediction that Chinese travellers arrivals will be 15.1 million by 2020 in Hong Kong.
However, the total tourist arrivals in Hong Kong from China exceeded 15.1 million reaching 16.8 million in 2008. Hong Kong reached the estimated figure as early as in
2008.
Tourist Arrivals in Hong Kong from China from 2003 to 2008
20000000
15000000
10000000 Number 5000000
0 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Year
Fig 5.1 Tourist Arrivals in Hong Kong from China from 2003 to 2008
Hong Kong received nearly 30 million in 2009. Predicted by WTO that Hong Kong will have received 56.6 million arrivals by 2020 at an annual growth rate of 7.1 per cent, it is predicted that Hong Kong could reach the estimated arrivals figure by 2020.
Therefore, it would be possible for Hong Kong to be the top 5th world destination by
2020.
59
Chapter 5 Conclusions and Recommendations
This study aims to investigate the possibility of Hong Kong to be the top 5th world
destination by 2020. The model destination mix is used to examine the current and
future tourism development in Hong Kong. Furthermore, this study also looks at
whether each individual component of destination mix follows sustainable tourism
practices.
This study finds that it is possible for Hong Kong to be the top 5th world destination
by 2020 thanks to the contribution of mainland Chinese tourists. Tourists from China
will be the dominant source of tourists for Hong Kong tourism industry in the future.
It is found that Hong Kong holds a prestigious position in terms of safety,
accessibility and internal transport facilities. It is suggested that the HKSAR
government should put every effort to maintain Hong Kong’s position in these three
areas. Furthermore, Hong Kong’s geographical location and close relationship with
China also enhances the city’s position in attracting tourists worldwide because of
prosperous economic development in China.
However, it is alarmingly shocked to find that the HKSAR government has not had a
tourism master plan that guides and governs future tourism development. Therefore,
the city’s current tourism policies show no clue in adopting the concept of
sustainability despite the fact that some policies claimed that they are sustainable.
This study indicates that Hong Kong’s tourism industry has been facing a lot of
60 challenges. Facing keen competition with other competitive destinations such as
Singapore, Bangkok and Shanghai is the main challenge. Other than that, it emerges that Hong Kong’s tourism industry relies far too heavily on the support of the Chinese government. This study also indicates that present tourist attractions in Hong Kong may not be attractive enough to make the tourists to have return visit.
Regarding the research results, this study aims to provide certain recommendations to the government on tourism policy and planning.
First, it is on the top of priority for the HKSAR government to have a tourism master plan. A tourism master plan is a framework for guiding and instructing tourism development in ten or twenty years’ time. Without planning, it is impossible to talk about future tourism development. Furthermore, tourism policies should follow the concepts of sustainable practices.
Second, it is almost unavoidable for the HKSAR government to seek support from the
Chinese government when it comes to talking about tourism policy. However, it is imbalanced when the whole tourism industry sole depends on one single market. It is suggested that Hong Kong should diversify the sources of tourist markets and enhance the strengths of its own in supporting the tourism industry.
Third, it is of great importance for the HKSAR government to tackle the problem of air pollution. It is believed that government regulation on emission of carbon dioxide can help alleviate the situation. Air pollution will ultimately damage Hong Kong’s well-established image of a world-class city. Much effort should be put on tackling
61 the problem.
Fourth, it is important to increase the number of institutions that provide more hospitality training. In the Policy Address 2009-2010 (2009) proposed by the Chief
Executive, Mr. Donald Tsang recognized Six Industries that are crucial to the development of Hong Kong’s economy. Education Services is one of the Six
Industries. It is suggested that the government should encourage more institutions to run hospitality training courses at different levels ranging from diploma and certificate to Bachelor and Master degree etc.
Fifth, it is essential to increase the number of attractions and broaden the product base.
Basically, the current mega project for tourism development is the cruise terminal in the former Kai Tak runway. Ocean Park in under redevelopment and Hong Kong
Disneyland is under expansion. However, attractions are not sufficient currently.
HKSAR government should develop a wide variety of attractions. The government’s action is much determined and governed by a plan. Therefore, a tourism master plan for future tourism development is a must.
Finally, it is the government’s effort and responsibility to curtail unethical business practices. Hong Kong has a competitive and strong image of being a shopping paradise, therefore, it is crucially important that goods tourists buy in Hong Kong are of high quality and guarantee. Customs and Excise Department should take a greater responsibility in maintaining Hong Kong’s image.
However, there are some limitations that surfaced in this research. The tourism
62 performance of Hong Kong has been assessed in terms of total tourist arrivals. This study intends to solely look at the prediction of future tourism growth of Hong Kong and does not consider tourism growth of other competitive destinations. To solve this problem, it is suggest that academics should consider the tourism growth of other competitive destinations such as Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Japan. Such approach is to investigate various destinations’ possibility to become a world destination. This could help to analyze the competitiveness of Hong Kong with other destinations with complementary destination attributes.
The main focus of this study is to study the current tourism development t and its sustainability of Hong Kong to find out the possibility of the city to become a world destination. Therefore, emphasis has not been placed on Hong Kong’s competitiveness as a destination. The success of a destination greatly depends on its competitiveness. It is suggested that future search of Hong Kong’s competitiveness by testing the Model of Destination Competitiveness and Sustainability proposed by
Ritchie and Crouch (2003).
63
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Vanhove, Norbert (2005). The economics of tourism destinations. Oxford, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
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Appendices
Appendix 1
1. What are the competitive advantages of Hong Kong being a destination?
2. Would you give some comments on the tourist attractions in Hong Kong? Are they attractive enough to get the tourists to make a return visit?
3. Would you give some comments on the amenities in Hong Kong such as accommodation, catering and other support industries?
4. What do you think about the internal and external transportation network in Hong Kong?
5. Would you give some comments on the hospitality resources of Hong Kong such as hospitality related training, the degree of local community welcoming the tourists and the attitude of the service provider etc?
6. What are the challenges the tourism industry in Hong Kong has to face nowadays?
7. What government policies should be adopted in order to make the tourism development in Hong Kong ecologically, environmentally and socially sustainable?
8. What improvements should be made to make Hong Kong a sustainable tourist destination?
9. Do you think Hong Kong has the potential to become the top 5th destination of the world by 2020? If yes, why do you think so? If not, what makes you disagreed with this prediction?
10. What are the factors that you think may affect the growth of tourism development in Hong Kong?
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Appendix 2
RE: Questions regarding my dissertation From: Kelvin Chan ([email protected]) Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 1:55:57 AM To: Suetying Wong ([email protected]) Dear Miss Wong,
The following is the answer regarding your dissertation that reply from Mr. Howard Young. Please take a look and if you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at 2533 4213, or e-mail [email protected]. Thanks.
Regards, Kelvin Chan Communications Officer Liberal Party Tel: 2533 4213
1. Competitive are Hardware and Software: Natural hardware are HK's geographic location, harbour. Manmade hardware are excellent airport, transport infrastructure, theme parks, shopping facilities, hotels. Software are service culture, well trained staff, linguistic ability in English, Putonghua and Cantonese
2. Attractions of shopping, hustle bustle city life, the view of harbour, peak, Ocean Park etc attract first time and repeat visitors. Very few cities are able to attract repeat visitors such as London, New York. Hong Kong is one of them.
3. Accommodation at top end of market and catering in HK is excellent. What is lacking is good lower end facilities. There is no bed and breakfast industry in HK like Europe/Australia because of crowded HK family conditions.
4. Support facilities such as mass transit and airlines is excellent. Local transport is also attractively priced.
5. Training by Universities and Vocational Training Council is adequate to supply management manpower. Teaching is easily applied to practice because of the large tourism industry. The local community got to realise the importance of tourists and tourism especially after it became obvious to all after the swift recovery of the economy after SARS in 2003 due to tourism influx, especially from 72 mainland China. Service providers flocked to learn and use Putonghua in the recent decade and half. Attitude amongst service providers is very good at higher end of market, but less so for the lower end.
6. Challenges are that man made hardware can be replicated by competitors (New theme parks in Singapore and Shanghai) and software of others can improve. The airport also needs more capacity to support growth.
7. Government could encourage more tourism related infrastructure (such as the building of the cruise terminal and expanding the airport and high speed train) and treat these as a social investment such as our roads, instead of a pure commercial enterprise. Investments and co-operation with Guangdong on improving air quality is also needed.
8. Improvements could include more investment and encouragement of culture and cuisine to assimilate West end and Broadway which causes tourists to return to London and New York. This will also help correct the imbalance tilted towards shopping.
9. When WTO talks about Hong Kong as a fifth largest destination, it overlooks the fact the Hong Kong is only a city, while Spain, Italy, UK, USA, France are huge countries. As for growth figures predicted for 2020 I think they are realistic and can be achieved if capacity constraints can be resolved. If one were to compare city with city, I am sure Hong Kong would probably already rank number one. The ranking not only depends on Hong Kong's growth, but the growth of other destinations being compared. Favourable factors include a. Tourism is and will probably remain one of the highest growth industries worldwide. b. We are geographically near to many high growth tourism generating regions. c. Hong Kong private and public sector has the financial strength to invest in tourism facilities.
10. The capacity of airport, air pollution can adversely affect growth
-----Original Message----- From: Suetying Wong [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 4:14 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Questions regarding my dissertation
Dear Kelvin,
I'm the undergraduate student of Sheffield Hallam University (based in School for Higher and Professional Education Chai Wan) with major in Tourism Management. I'm currently doing information research on my dissertation that the topic is "Can Hong Kong become the top 5th world
73 destination by the year 2020?"
I have got some questions that I hope Mr. Young would answer.
1. What are the competitive advantages of Hong Kong being a destination?
2. Would you give some comments on the tourist attractions in Hong Kong? Are they attractive enough to get the tourists to make a return visit?
3. Would you give some comments on the amenities in Hong Kong such as accommodation, catering and other support industries?
4. What do you think about the internal and external transportation network in Hong Kong?
5. Would you give some comments on the hospitality resources of Hong Kong such as hospitality related training, the degree of local community welcoming the tourists and the attitude of the service provider etc?
6. What are the challenges the tourism industry in Hong Kong has to face nowadays?
7. What government policies should be adopted in order to make the tourism development in Hong Kong ecologically, environmentally and socially sustainable?
8. What improvements should be made to make Hong Kong a sustainable tourist destination?
9. Do you think Hong Kong has the potential to become the top 5th destination of the world by 2020? If yes, why do you think so? If not, what makes you disagreed with this prediction?
10. What are the factors that you think may affect the growth of tourism development in Hong Kong?
You can contact me at my phone number 95866085 if you do not understand my questions.
I'm looking forward to your reply.
Regards, WONG, Suet Ying
74
Appendix 3
RE: Interview From: Ray Pine ([email protected]) Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 1:47:33 AM To: [email protected] OK - I've answered below next to your questions. Prof. Pine.
From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: Interview Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2010 07:50:49 +0000
Dear Professor Pine,
I'm the student of Sheffield Hallam University with a major in Tourism Management. I'm currently doing information research on my dissertation which the topic is "Can Hong Kong become the top 5th destination by 2020?"
Knowing that you are a scholar in the field of tourism, I want to ask you the following questions during the interview.
1. What are the competitive advantages of Hong Kong being a destination? Excellent transportation connections with very easy/efficient immigration access plus a very dynamic cosmopolitan atmosphere.
2. Would you give some comments on the tourist attractions in Hong Kong? Are they attractive enough to get the tourists to make a return visit? Business travellers will return very often as HK is a global business centre. However, I feel that for most leisure travellers HK is a one-visit destination.
3. Would you give some comments on the amenities in Hong Kong such as accommodation, catering and other support industries? These are all excellent quality and very diverse in range/type, especially when compared with other major cities in the world.
4. What do you think about the internal and external transportation network in Hong Kong? 75
Again excellent. Flying, ferries and busses are all very well organised. Local transportation is among the best and cheapest in the world.
5. Would you give some comments on the hospitality resources of Hong Kong such as hospitality related training, the degree of local community welcoming the tourists and the attitude of the service provider etc? Vocational training/education is very well supported and will get even better once the new secondary education system is introduced. Local community is generally welcoming, and getting better all the time. Service attitude is generally good.
6. What are the challenges the tourism industry in Hong Kong has to face nowadays? Biggest challenge is future downturn of mainland Chinese tourism market as they travel further afield or stay at home to visit increasingly competitive cities inside China.
7. What government policies should be adopted in order to make the tourism development in Hong Kong ecologically, environmentally and socially sustainable? Main one is clean air - much more needs to be done to stop pollution.
8. What improvements should be made to make Hong Kong a sustainable tourist destination? Cleaner transportation and other road vehicles - these not only contribute to pollution but at ground level create a very "smelly" and obvious source of discomfort.
9. Do you think Hong Kong has the potential to become the top 5th destination of the world by 2020? If yes, why do you think so? If not, what makes you disagree with this prediction? Absolutely yes. Mainly in relation to connections with China - that is mainland people travelling here and others using HK as a route into and out of China.
10. What are the factors that you think may affect the growth of tourism development in Hong Kong? Continued support from mainland government, and more effort by our government to improve facilities overall (e.g. cultural area in Kowloon, cruise terminal, improvement of Disney and Ocean Park, other "big" infrastructure - bridge to Juhai/Macau. high speed rail link, more runways at airport, etc.).
I hope to have a face-to-face interview with you at your convenient time.
Regards, SuetYing, Wong
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Appendix 4
Re: Questions of my dissertation From: John Ap [SHTM] ([email protected]) Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2010 2:06:26 PM To: [email protected] Dear Suet Ying,
Thanks for your message. Rather than type my responses to you via email, I will be happy to give you a call with a telephone interview. I get 600 IDD minutes per month for HK$56 & will be happy to give you an interview, which you are most welcome to record.
Please advise if this arrangement is OK & provide me with your tel no. (landline preferred) & some times you are available. Thanks.
John
Dr. John Ap Associate Professor School of Hotel & Tourism Management The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hung Hom, Kowloon Hong Kong SAR, CHINA
Tel. (852) 2766 6348 Fax, (852) 2362 9362
Email: [email protected] >>> Suetying Wong
Dear Dr. Ap,
I'm the student of Sheffield Hallam University with a major in Tourism Management. I'm currently doing information research for my dissertation which the topic is "Can Hong Kong become the top 5th destination by 2020?"
Knowing that you are a scholar in the field of tourism, I want to ask you the following
77 questions which I hope you would answer.
1. What are the competitive advantages of Hong Kong being a destination?
2. Would you give some comments on the tourist attractions in Hong Kong? Are they attractive enough to get the tourists to make a return visit?
3. Would you give some comments on the amenities in Hong Kong such as accommodation, catering and other support industries?
4. What do you think about the internal and external transportation network in Hong Kong?
5. Would you give some comments on the hospitality resources of Hong Kong such as hospitality related training, the degree of local community welcoming the tourists and the attitude of the service providers etc?
6. What are the challenges the tourism industry in Hong Kong has to face nowadays?
7. What government policies should be adopted in order to make the tourism development in Hong Kong ecologically, environmentally and socially sustainable?
8. What improvements should be made to make Hong Kong a sustainable tourist destination?
9. Do you think Hong Kong has the potential to become the top 5th destination of the world by 2020? If yes, why do you think so? If not, what makes you disagree with this prediction?
10. What are the factors that you think may affect the growth of tourism development in Hong Kong?
I feel deeply grateful to you if you can spare some of your precious time to answer my questions.
Regards, SuetYing, Wong
78
Re: Thank you! From: John Ap [SHTM] ([email protected]) Sent: Friday, April 09, 2010 6:01:59 AM To: Suetying Wong ([email protected]) It's my pleasure to assist
>>> Suetying Wong
Thanks for ringing me last night. I greatly appreciate your contribution to my research.
Thank you.
Regards, Suet Ying
79
Appendix 5
Transcript of Interview with Dr. John Ap
1. What are the competitive advantages of Hong Kong being a destination?
Dr. Ap: First, the location and proximity of Hong Kong being at the heart of Asia. Second, culture. Hong Kong has a unique colonial history. Third, modernization. Transportation is very effective. Last, unique attractions that you don’t find else where such as Ngong Ping 360, Po Lin Monastery and Victoria Harbour.
2. Would you give some comments on the tourist attractions in Hong Kong? Are they attractive enough to get the tourists to make a return visit?
Dr. Ap: They are generally okay. The government has to continue improving and increasing the number of attractions and broaden the product base. Traditionally, Hong Kong has always been regarded as a hotspot or interesting places to visit. But whether the tourists would revisit is debatable. If the attractions have no change or update then what makes the visitors revisit? I want to address a problem that the air pollution is a worry. Let’s say for example the tourists can’t see the nice view from The Peak. The government has to be really careful of this issue.
3. Would you give some comments on the amenities in Hong Kong such as accommodation, catering and other support industries?
Dr. Ap: Accommodation has good ranges. Some are the best of the world such as The Peninsula and Mandarin Oriental. They are five stars hotels. We have certain restaurants which are well known and at the top of the ranges. We have fine dinning establishments particularly in the hotels but the problem is the inconsistency of service quality. The support industries are problematic, for example, the street vendors. They are not ethical and unscrupulous. They cheat on the tourists.
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4. What do you think about the internal and external transportation network in Hong Kong?
Dr. Ap: Basically excellent. In terms of internal transportation system such as MTR and bus. They are one of the best in the world. They are clean and the frequency is very good. If you live in a Western country and catch a train, you have to look at the timetable but you don’t need to look at the timetable in Hong Kong. Transportation is regarded as excellent.
5. Would you give some comments on the hospitality resources of Hong Kong such as hospitality related training, the degree of local community welcoming the tourists and the attitude of the service providers etc?
Dr. Ap: In terms of training, we have ranges of institutions offering training that ranges from certificate to study at PhD, they are in huge demand. But training is not sufficient. The service industry and tourism industry are so huge. It is not easy to get good quality skilled staff. One of the problems is that the concept of service of Hong Kong people is very “Asian”. They focus on courtesy and efficiency. They are not proactive. They tend to be reactive in the way they provide and deliver services. Their services and service-related jobs are in terms of master-servant relationship which contrasts to the Western approach to services. They are proactive and interactive experience. The relationship between the service providers and guests is a lot closer. Asian has a high power distance. The culture concept in terms of hierarchy is very prominent for Asian culture. The attitude of local residents on tourists becomes significant. The recognition of that during the SARS period when people realised how important the tourism industry is. Certainly attitude towards the Mainland guests has changed. Over time the mainland Chinese would become more experienced and sophisticated. When people have more travel experience and become more aware of the international standard, they observe the local customs and practice. The service providers deliver inconsistent service. Some are good that they deliver services in an appropriate manner but some are not appropriate. They may damage the image of Hong Kong and the level of services the industry provided.
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6. What are the challenges the tourism industry in Hong Kong has to face nowadays?
Dr. Ap: One got to look at broadening the product base. There is no tourism master planning conducted for the development of tourism. The challenge that Hong Kong has to face is that we don’t start undertaking some master tourism planning. What we are going to have in the future is cruise terminal and there is not other projects coming under screen. That is the responsibility of the Tourism Commission and particular the government. It is a huge worry. I realise in five years’ time what is new in Hong Kong is nothing new because there is no plan.
7. What government policies should be adopted in order to make the tourism development in Hong Kong ecologically, environmentally and socially sustainable?
Dr. Ap: To have a tourism master plan. That is a key problem and a critical issue. Basically the government totally lacks commitment to the environment, ecology and social sustainability. Planning is to guide the direction and incorporate those policies with the values. However, the approach of the government is to look after the developers’ interest and businesses nowadays and don’t care too much about the environment. Look at the air pollution problem. The Budget comes out every year and it always mentions about the environment but just gives very little money.
8. What improvements should be made to make Hong Kong a sustainable tourist destination?
Dr. Ap: Get to rethink the whole approach. The government needs to focus on the improvement of quality of life of Hong Kong citizens. What benefits the local residents will also benefit the tourists. Also, it is important to tackle the air pollution problem.
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9. Do you think Hong Kong has the potential to become the top 5th destination of the world by 2020? If yes, why do you think so? If not, what makes you disagree with this prediction?
Dr. Ap: Yes. It is led by the mainland Chinese. Hong Kong tourism, particularly at present, has been largely dictated by Chinese mainland government policy. If it wasn’t for the mainland tourists, Hong Kong’s tourism industry would be in a serious trouble.
10. What are the factors that you think may affect the growth of tourism development in Hong Kong?
Dr. Ap: First, there is a lack of government direction and ambition about tourism. The absence of tourism master planning is a major problem. Second, air pollution and quality of life issue is not addressed. Third, the policy of the PRC government. What happen in the future is that a lot of tourists coming to Hong Kong are driven by the Chinese policy in terms of tourism. The Chinese government dictates too much. China is a dominant market in Hong Kong at the moment but it would disappear if the Chinese government changes the policy for whatever reasons. They announce the policy without any consultation and explanation. The industry just has to endure with it.
83