Government releases Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry 2.0 (with photos/video)
The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, promulgated the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry 2.0 (Blueprint 2.0) today (December 30).
Miss Law said, "Blueprint 2.0 has three key messages. The first is that Hong Kong is an international tourist city with the advantage of being backed by the motherland. We must make good use of the Central Government's policies that benefit Hong Kong to promote the all-round development of Hong Kong's tourism industry. Second, everyone can contribute to the development of tourism in Hong Kong. Apart from the Government's policy support and promotion, all sectors must keep a finger on the pulse of the market and seize opportunities to identify, respond to and steer changes. If all Hong Kong citizens work together, we can provide visitors with the highest quality hospitality and services by putting customers first and serving them with sincerity, so that visitors will come back time and again. Third, Hong Kong has obvious traditional tourism advantages, including world-class tourist attractions, cuisine, urban management and transport systems. We must continue to strengthen these advantages and optimise our hardware facilities. At the same time, we must also explore new tourism resources, including injecting momentum and freshness into the city through soft power such as mega events and festivals, to enhance the ambiance of the tourist city to attract tourists from all over the world and create a home-away-from-home travel experience for them."
Blueprint 2.0 proposes a forward-looking and pragmatic vision and mission for Hong Kong's tourism industry, proposing four positions, four development strategies and 133 measures. The four positions of Hong Kong's tourism industry include (i) reinforcing the role of an international tourism hub and a core demonstration zone for multi-destination tourism; (ii) highlighting the unique elements of Hong Kong's local cultural characteristics that are irreplaceable and unrepeatable and making good use of its positioning as the East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, with a view to achieving "shaping tourism with cultural activities and promoting culture through tourism"; (iii) upholding Hong Kong's positioning as a city with high-quality tourism experiences; and (iv) stressing the importance of quality over quantity in development to build Hong Kong into a demonstration point for sustainable tourism. The four development strategies include:
Strategy 1: Nurture and develop tourism products - To nurture and develop tourism products and initiatives with local and international characteristics
Covering 46 measures. This strategy focuses on promoting the in-depth integration of tourism with four areas, namely culture, sports, ecology and mega events, in which Hong Kong possesses world-class resources that have yet to be fully presented to global visitors. It aims to craft a series of distinctive and attractive tourism products and projects to attract global visitors to explore in-depth Hong Kong's rich and diversified unique tourism resources, with a view to enhancing Hong Kong's attractiveness as a world-class premier tourism destination.
Strategy 2: Visitors from all parts of the world gather in Hong Kong - To develop a diversified portfolio of visitor source markets for Hong Kong, with a focus on attracting high value-added overnight visitors
Covering 37 measures. This strategy adopts two key dimensions: developing potential source markets while consolidating existing core markets, and rolling out promotions targeting the characteristics of specific segments to encourage more meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions visitors and cruise passengers to visit Hong Kong. It also aims to expand silver-haired, family, study tour and youth source markets for attracting high-value added visitors.
Strategy 3: Intelligent and convenient travel to Hong Kong - To promote smart tourism
Covering 19 measures. Directions include facilitating and enhancing visitors' experiences and improving the competitiveness of the industry. Through the use of modern information technology such as electronic platforms, big data and artificial intelligence, Hong Kong will further enhance the smart level of tourism services and add smart elements to tourist attractions to provide visitors with a more convenient, efficient and user-friendly travel experience.
Strategy 4: Quality services for visitors -To enhance the service quality and support of the tourism industry on all fronts and to cultivate talent
Covering 31 measures. Hong Kong has positioned itself as a destination providing high-quality tourism experiences. Quality service is essential in welcoming visitors. This strategy aims to attract talent, nurture professionals, enhance service quality and improve hardware support.
Miss Law said, "We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the travel trade for putting forward a lot of invaluable opinions throughout the whole process of outlining Blueprint 2.0. The tourism industry involves various sections of services, and the all-round industry development depends on the support and participation of the entire community. We call for establishing awareness that 'Everyone is a tourism ambassador' among all citizens who will be able to receive every visitor with enthusiasm and friendliness and spread the positive energy and image of Hong Kong to cultivate a harmonious, cohesive and vibrant tourism atmosphere together. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) will continue to lead the travel trade in enhancing Hong Kong's tourism competitiveness in all aspects, reinvigorate Hong Kong's tourism industry, and jointly contribute to the healthy and prosperous development of Hong Kong's tourism industry."
The full text of Blueprint 2.0 has been uploaded to the website of the CSTB (www.cstb.gov.hk/en/).
The 2023 Policy Address announced that the CSTB will promulgate Blueprint 2.0 in 2024. Since April this year, the CSTB, together with research team Our Hong Kong Foundation, has conducted trade consultation for around two months and received over 1 000 suggestions from over 110 trade organisations in 27 physical consultation sessions. It has also analysed the strengths, development limitations, challenges and opportunities of Hong Kong's tourism industry, as well as the tourism development plans of neighbouring regions in formulating Blueprint 2.0.
Government releases Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry 2.0 (with photos/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Government releases Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry 2.0 (with photos/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Government releases Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry 2.0 (with photos/video) Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Provisional statistics of retail sales for November 2024
The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released the latest figures on retail sales today (January 2).
The value of total retail sales in November 2024, provisionally estimated at $31.7 billion, decreased by 7.3% compared with the same month in 2023. The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in October 2024 decreased by 2.8% compared with a year earlier. For the first 11 months of 2024 taken together, it was provisionally estimated that the value of total retail sales decreased by 7.1% compared with the same period in 2023.
Of the total retail sales value in November 2024, online sales accounted for 9.3%. The value of online retail sales in that month, provisionally estimated at $2.9 billion, decreased by 7.0% compared with the same month in 2023. The revised estimate of online retail sales in October 2024 increased by 8.4% compared with a year earlier. For the first 11 months of 2024 taken together, it was provisionally estimated that the value of online retail sales decreased by 1.2% compared with the same period in 2023.
After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales in November 2024 decreased by 8.3% compared with a year earlier. The revised estimate of the volume of total retail sales in October 2024 decreased by 4.8% compared with a year earlier. For the first 11 months of 2024 taken together, the provisional estimate of the total retail sales decreased by 8.7% in volume compared with the same period in 2023.
Analysed by broad type of retail outlet in descending order of the provisional estimate of the value of sales and comparing November 2024 with November 2023, the value of sales of jewellery, watches and clocks, and valuable gifts decreased by 5.4%. This was followed by sales of electrical goods and other consumer durable goods not elsewhere classified (-18.0% in value); wearing apparel (-7.5%); commodities in department stores (-12.3%); medicines and cosmetics (-2.9%); motor vehicles and parts (-34.4%); fuels (-9.9%); footwear, allied products and other clothing accessories (-1.7%); furniture and fixtures (-20.5%); books, newspapers, stationery and gifts (-6.5%); Chinese drugs and herbs (-19.3%); and optical shops (-11.8%).
On the other hand, the value of sales of commodities in supermarkets increased by 3.5% in November 2024 over a year earlier. This was followed by sales of other consumer goods not elsewhere classified (+1.4% in value); and food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco (+0.4%).
Based on the seasonally adjusted series, the provisional estimate of the value of total retail sales increased by 1.7% in the three months ending November 2024 compared with the preceding three-month period, while the provisional estimate of the volume of total retail sales increased by 1.4%.
Commentary
A government spokesman said that the value of total retail sales continued to decline in November from a year earlier alongside the change in consumption patterns and the relatively strong Hong Kong dollar.
Looking ahead, the spokesman said that the change in consumption patterns of visitors and residents will continue to weigh on the performance of the retail sector. Nevertheless, the introduction of various measures by the Central Government to boost the Mainland economy and benefit Hong Kong, including the resumption and expansion of the multiple-entry Individual Visit Scheme for Shenzhen since December, together with the SAR Government's various initiatives to boost market sentiment, as well as increasing employment earnings, would be conducive to spending by both visitors and residents in the local market.
Further information
Table 1 presents the revised figures on value index and value of retail sales for all retail outlets and by broad type of retail outlet for October 2024 as well as the provisional figures for November 2024. The provisional figures on the value of retail sales for all retail outlets and by broad type of retail outlet as well as the corresponding year-on-year changes for the first 11 months of 2024 taken together are also shown.
Table 2 presents the revised figures on value of online retail sales for October 2024 as well as the provisional figures for November 2024. The provisional figures on year-on-year changes for the first 11 months of 2024 taken together are also shown.
Table 3 presents the revised figures on volume index of retail sales for all retail outlets and by broad type of retail outlet for October 2024 as well as the provisional figures for November 2024. The provisional figures on year-on-year changes for the first 11 months of 2024 taken together are also shown.
Table 4 shows the movements of the value and volume of total retail sales in terms of the year-on-year rate of change for a month compared with the same month in the preceding year based on the original series, and in terms of the rate of change for a three-month period compared with the preceding three-month period based on the seasonally adjusted series.
The classification of retail establishments follows the Hong Kong Standard Industrial Classification (HSIC) Version 2.0, which is used in various economic surveys for classifying economic units into different industry classes.
These retail sales statistics measure the sales receipts in respect of goods sold by local retail establishments and are primarily intended for gauging the short-term business performance of the local retail sector. Data on retail sales are collected from local retail establishments through the Monthly Survey of Retail Sales (MRS). Local retail establishments with and without physical shops are covered in MRS and their sales, both through conventional shops and online channels, are included in the retail sales statistics.
The retail sales statistics cover consumer spending on goods but not on services (such as those on housing, catering, medical care and health services, transport and communication, financial services, education and entertainment) which account for over 50% of the overall consumer spending. Moreover, they include spending on goods in Hong Kong by visitors but exclude spending outside Hong Kong by Hong Kong residents. Hence they should not be regarded as indicators for measuring overall consumer spending.
Users interested in the trend of overall consumer spending should refer to the data series of private consumption expenditure (PCE), which is a major component of the Gross Domestic Product published at quarterly intervals. Compiled from a wide range of data sources, PCE covers consumer spending on both goods (including goods purchased from all channels) and services by Hong Kong residents whether locally or abroad. Please refer to the C&SD publication "Gross Domestic Product by Expenditure Component" for more details.
More detailed statistics are given in the "Report on Monthly Survey of Retail Sales". Users can browse and download this publication at the website of the C&SD (www.censtatd.gov.hk/en/EIndexbySubject.html?pcode=B1080003&scode=530).
Users who have enquiries about the survey results may contact the Distribution Services Statistics Section of C&SD (Tel: 3903 7400; email: mrs@censtatd.gov.hk).
