Hong Kong's Working Group Begins Planning for New Tourist Hotspots to Boost Local Appeal and Accessibility

Working Group on Developing Tourist Hotspots holds first meeting

The Working Group on Developing Tourist Hotspots, led by the Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, held its first meeting today (November 8). During the meeting, Mr Cheuk led members of the Working Group to discuss how to identify and develop tourist hotspots of high popularity and with strong appeal in various districts, as well as the subsequent work plan of the Working Group.

Mr Cheuk said, "Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city where East meets West and is endowed with a wealth of tourism resources, including cuisines, unique district characteristics, stunning shorelines of Victoria Harbour, natural beauty, clansmen culture, film and television culture, historic buildings and more. Today, the Working Group discussed the prerequisites for tourist hotspots, such as whether they have Hong Kong characteristics, the potential to attract both locals and tourists, and room for developing necessary transportation and ancillary facilities. The Working Group also discussed several preliminary proposals. The Working Group will collect views and suggestions on tourist hotspots through the 18 District Offices and select suitable projects for development.

"We will seek views and gather opinions from the 18 districts and various sectors of the community to develop innovative, appealing and executable projects. We will then consolidate resources and efforts from the community to take forward the projects to put into practice the goal of 'tourism is everywhere in Hong Kong'."

He added, "The Working Group will, within six months, identify the projects to be undertaken along with a relevant timeline for implementation and major tasks to be carried out."

Other members of the Working Group include the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism (deputy leader), the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, the Secretary for Development, the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, the Secretary for Security, the Secretary for Transport and Logistics, the Director of Home Affairs, the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services and the Commissioner for Tourism.

Working Group on Developing Tourist Hotspots holds first meeting Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Meeting attendance of members of District Councils in 2024

The Home Affairs Department (HAD) made the following clarifications today (January 2) regarding certain media reports on the meeting attendance of the current-term members of the District Councils (DCs) in 2024:

(1) The current-term DC members were diligent in their work, with over 98 per cent of 470 members having attended all DC meetings or were only absent with the DC's consent; over 90 per cent having attended all committee/working group meetings or were only absent with the DC's consent. Aside from attending DC meetings, each DC member on average attended 28 committee/working group meetings;

(2) all DC members fulfilled the requirement under the Performance Monitoring Guidelines for Members of the DCs (the Guidelines), i.e. attendance rate of not lower than 80 per cent and no DC members were in violation of the requirement; certain reports were incorrect in stating that some DC members were in violation of the Guidelines due to their absence at meetings since absence at an individual meeting was not a violation in itself; and

(3) for the purpose of calculating attendance, the Guidelines stipulate certain reasons for absence that would be consented by the DCs, including sickness and attendance at another meeting or an activity on behalf of the DCs etc. If a DC member were absent from meetings due to the aforementioned reasons with the DC's consent, the absence would not affect his/her attendance rate. If a DC member were absent from meetings due to other reasons (i.e. personal matters), the absence would be counted towards his/her attendance rate.

​The HAD hoped that media outlets and members of the public would have an accurate understanding of DC members' attendance situation at meetings. The current-term DC members' attendance rate at meetings was the highest amongst all previous terms, which fully demonstrated DC members' efforts and work in improving governance at the district level.