Hong Kong has rolled out a much-awaited tourism blueprint that highlights themes such as pandas, horse racing, mega-events and smart initiatives as updated strategies expected to boost the economy by HK$120 billion (US$15.5 billion) and create 210,000 jobs in five years.
The blueprint proposes four-pronged development strategies, 16 implementation directions, 59 action plans and 133 measures, with an aim of reinforcing the city’s role as an international tourism hub, a zone for multi-destination tourism and an East-meets-West centre.
Upon implementation, the tourism industry could generate HK$120 billion in economic value, after it accounted for 5 per cent of Hong Kong’s gross domestic product in 2018 and 2.6 per cent in 2023.
“Tourism was paralysed during the pandemic. After the pandemic, tourists’ travel patterns have changed and we have to reform the industry,” Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui said on Monday.
Following sheer changes over the three years of the pandemic, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu stipulated in his 2023 policy address that the development blueprint, first unveiled in 2017, needed to be updated.