The quest of Hong Kong – to regain the crown of a top tourist destination

Mark Pinkstone/Former Chief Information Officer of HK government

Hong Kong is clawing back to its former crowning glory as a world tourism destination with preliminary arrival figures for 2024 showing a healthy 40 million visitors, a 31 per cent increase compared with the previous year.

But it still has a long way to catch up with the world leader, France, which received 80 million visitors last year.

According to the Hong Kong Tourism Bureau, Hong Kong welcomed about the 40 million visitors, the majority of whom came naturally from the mainland (domestic tourism) and Southeast Asia (international market) which showed a 44 per cent increase over the previous year. And, collectively, they added some HK$207.3 billion to the city’s coffers.

As Hong Kong enters the Year of the Snake, the future looks bright and with a modest 15 per cent expected increase the city can expect some 46 million visitors spending $240 billion on hotels, tours and shopping this year.

In days, not so long gone by, Hong Kong was one of the world’s leading tourist destinations. It was known as the Pearl of the Orient and was a mixture of the East meeting the West. With English being the lingua franca of the tourism industry coupled with the provision of excellent service and efficiency, Hong Kong became the destination of choice. In 1965, it received 65.5 million visitors, the highest on record. In May 2023, Hong Kong was hailed as the Most Popular Cultural Tourism Destination at the Guangzhou International Travel Fair 2023.

The most popular attractions in Hong Kong are the Peak as Hong Kong’s number one tourist destination featuring the Peak Tower and the historic Peak Tram; Tian Tan Buddha (Big Buddha), as a major attraction on Lantau Island, along with the Po Lin Monastery and the fishing village of Tai O; the Hong Kong Skyline along Victoria Harbour, with nicely developed promenades and leisure parks on both sides; the Star Ferry with over 24,000 reviews; the Pandas at Ocean Park; and Hong Kong Disneyland as one of the world’s most beautiful theme parks, ranked 7th most popular globally by Forbes. And, according to Time Out magazine, Hong Kong is the world’s safest city, Hollywood Road is the world’s second coolest street, and Bar Leone is the best bar in Asia.

Then came 2019, Hong Kong became the target of insurgence attacks inspired by foreign powers. Riots broke out in the streets, and there were arson attacks and killings. No one wanted to visit Hong Kong. The flames of insurgency were fuelled by foreign governments advising their nationals not to visit Hong Kong for safety reasons. Quicky on the heels of the riots came COVID-19, and the world was in shut-down mode. By 2021, tourism was virtually obliterated with only 9,000 visitors and 60,000 the following year. Recovery started in 2023 with 23.34 million visitors.

As Hong Kong has no natural resources to sustain its viability, tourism has become a cornerstone of its economy. Another is trade.

It is therefore essential that the entire Hong Kong community extend a hand of welcome to our guests, for they are providing our bread and butter. Indifference towards our northern guests or towards various religious groups should not be tolerated. As a direct result of the problems of 2019-22, hundreds, if not thousands, of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) have closed due to lack of business and their shops remain desolate among the survivors. The number of corporate bankruptcies (the number of winding-up orders) in Hong Kong in 2021 increased by 23.93 percent to 290, and a further increase by 3.44 percent to 300 in 2022. We have much to thank our visitors for: survival.

In his policy address last year, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the government would release plans to invigorate the tourism industry. And in December, it did.

Known as Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry 2.0 (Blueprint 2.0), the document presents three key messages – that Hong Kong is an international tourist city with the advantage of being backed by the motherland; that everyone can contribute to the development of tourism in Hong Kong; and strengthen our traditional tourism advantages including world-class tourist attractions, cuisine, urban managements and transport systems.

The average length of stay by inbound visitors is approximately 3.6 nights, with the highest period of stay being 6.5 nights in 2021. Part of the new strategy will be to entice them to stay longer by providing value-added services and attractions.

It is a plan put together by the industry for the industry under an initiative by the government and with research input by the think tank, Our Hong Kong Foundation. The thoroughness that went into the Blueprint 2.0, including more than 1,000 suggestions from more than 110 trade organisations indicates the passion in which the industry and the government can work together for the betterment of Hong Kong and its people.

Mark Pinkstone

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

Mark Pinkstone/Former Chief Information Officer of HK government

US President Donald Trump has started an international biased war on trade; biased in a way that places like Hong Kong are being penalised even though they have a deficit trade balance with the US.

The US goods trade surplus with Hong Kong was US$21.9 billion in 2024, a 7.6 per cent increase over 2023.

Yet, Hong Kong has long been considered a separate customs territory from the mainland of China as stipulated in the Basic Law and by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) before and after the Handover in 1997. It also enjoyed preferential treatment from the US in terms of trade and economy under US law since 1992. But Trump put an end to that with an executive order in his first term of office in 2019 when he sided with the rioters in Hong Kong.

Total goods traded between the US and Hong Kong last year totalled US$33.8 billion. US exports to Hong Kong were US$27.9 billion while Hong Kong exports to the US totalled only $6 billion, thus the near US$22 billion surplus in favour of the US.

By wrongfully lumping Hong Kong’s trade figures with that of the mainland, Hong Kong is being penalised by the US for something it hasn’t done.

Trade lecturer at City University of Hong Kong, Julien Chaisse, has been quoted in the local press as saying “Hong Kong is in a tough spot. The US no longer treats Hong Kong as a separate from the mainland, which strips away any trade advantages we once had.”

Hong Kong has, naturally, lodged a complaint against the US with the WTO. A spokesman for the Special Administration Region (SAR) Government of Hong Kong, said “The US measures are grossly inconsistent of the relevant WTO rules and ignore our status as a separate customs territory as stipulated in Article 116 of the Basic Law and recognized by the WTO.”

The HKSAR Government will formally launch procedures in accordance with the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism against the US’ unreasonable measures to defend our legitimate rights.

However, although the WTO is an independent body it is currently being controlled by the US.

Traditionally the Appellate Court of the WTO adjudicates disputes between member states, but it is currently composed of only one judge. In normal circumstances, the court has seven judges, but a minimum of three is required for a quorum. The appellate body fell to one judge on December 10 last year when member states failed to make new appointments. That in turn has halted all appeal judgements on trade matters until a new solution is reached. Also, the US has  threatened to block the  body’s budget.  So, even though both China and Hong Kong, plus many other member states, have lodged complaints against the US for its tariffs war, very little can be done until more judges are appointed. And that could take ages as such appointments will continue to be blocked by the US.

It is well recognized that there are no winners in trade wars, and it is the little man, the man in the street who suffers as the tariffs are passed down the line to the consumer, thus causing inflation to rise. But Trump thinks nought for the little man, only himself.

The Chinese ambassador to the US, Xie Feng, also believes there are no winners in trade wars nor in wars over science, technology or industry. Differences, he said between the two nations should be the driving force for exchanges and mutual learning rather than “the excuse for rejection and confrontation and that successes of each were opportunities for the other.”

On the sidelines of last week’s National Peoples’ Congress in Beijing, China’s commerce minister Wang Wentao, hit back at Trump saying that coercion and threats would not work on China, nor would they scare China. “China’s determination to defend its own interests is unswerving. There are no winners in a trade war.

“If the American side goes further down this wrong path, we will fight to the end,” he warned.

China is the main trading partner in 140 countries and has free trade agreements (FTAs) with 30. And it is ready to sign even more FTAs to minimize the impact of restrictions imposed by the US.

So, China as perhaps the world’s largest trading partner and a key cog in the supply chain mechanism, the US bullying tactics would have little impact on China’s Gross Domestic Product by as little as 1 per cent, even if the tariffs went as high as 60 per cent.