Hong Kong's tourism picture looks pretty rosy but as we all know, appearances can be deceiving. Industry veterans claim Hong Kong has become limited to a destination for travelers from Greater China, and the city essentially has become a shopping mall that has failed to exploit opportunities to draw in tourists from other parts of the world. Li Tao reports.

Vicky Han flew to Shenzhen with her future husband last month. Her ultimate destination was Hong Kong, where the 26-year-old office worker from Shanghai planned to buy as many wedding essentials, flourishes, embellishments and accoutrements as she could afford. It was her first visit to the city, but she had heard plenty about Hong Kong's reputation as the shopper's paradise.

Han, like many savvy tourists, had done her research in advance. She checked out several agencies, leading to the discovery that if she flew to Shenzhen first, and then took a two-hour bus ride to Hong Kong, she and her fianc could save almost HK$1,000 ($128.9) each. Airplane tickets from Shanghai to Shenzhen normally are discounted 50 to 60 percent if purchased in advance.

There was no shortcut on accommodation in Hong Kong, Han observed and that was a big headache. "I could barely find any decent hotels in convenient locations in Hong Kong, below HK$1,000. So I need to shop fast and get out of Hong Kong as early as possible."

Spending a single night in a cramped and out of the way three- star hotel in Kowloon cost them roughly HK$800. The couple exited Hong Kong on the second day, feeling in high spirits with two big suitcases stuffed full of their shopping bonanza.

"I enjoyed my trip so much!" Han tells China Daily. "Hong Kong is indeed a shopping heaven and I couldn't stop spending money. Everything here looks less expensive to me."

Han's excitement was pretty much confined to shopping and shopping malls. She hardly did any sight-seeing. She wasn't sorry. She doesn't believe she could have missed much. "The city is identical to many big cities on the mainland today," and "Disneyland will eventually appear in Shanghai in a few years, as well."

"Enjoying local foods and buying things at cheaper prices are basically how I think about Hong Kong - what I see as different from Shanghai," she says. "I will definitely visit Hong Kong again, and will probably do the same thing as I did this time."

As one of the pillar industries of the city, the importance of tourism to Hong Kong is self-evident. Official data shows that tourism here employs about 230,000 people. The tourist sector accounts for 4.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) reports the city welcomed a record 48.2 million visitors in 2012, a 16 percent leap over the previous year. In the same year, the tourism related economy climbed to HK$30.65 billion in the year, a16.5 percent surge over 2011.

The government recognizes the unique advantages keeping the ball rolling. Anthony Lau, executive director of the Tourism Board, tells China Daily that Hong Kong has a plenitude of diverse strengths when it comes to bringing in tourists. They range from the distinctive East-meets-West cultural climate to a wide array of shopping and dining options.

"In recent years, green attractions, arts and culture, sports, entertainment have become very popular among visitors.

"In addition, Hong Kong enjoys the advantage of being strategically located on the doorstep of the Chinese mainland and in the heart of Asia. All these contribute to the city's success as a popular tourist destination making it an ideal hub for multi-destination travel in the Asia-Pacific region," Lau says.

Long lost allure

Still, the dazzling figures and rah-rah slogans can't conceal the reality that Hong Kong's tourism industry has been developed into a twisted, even chimerical state, declares Lo Sui-on, executive director of China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Ltd.

"It seems the Hong Kong tourism industry is expanding but it feel wrong from many perspectives," says Lo, who is also a local delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

"In the past, we did not need to promote the city. Foreign travelers came to Hong Kong to learn about the city, as well as the Chinese mainland. Today, we've seen tourist arrivals to Hong Kong of almost 50 million a year, but over 70 percent come from the mainland. Together with another several hundreds of thousands from Taiwan and Macao, Hong Kong is basically a tourism destination for people like us," he adds.

In March, Hong Kong fell three positions in the global tourism rankings, sliding from 12th to 15th place in the World Economic Forum's tourism competitiveness rankings. The city's "ground transport infrastructure" ranked in first place - "availability of qualified labor", the same. But Hong Kong was downgraded in several metrics including, "environmental sustainability," "health and hygiene", "tourism infrastructure", "national resources." In all these metrics Hong Kong wandered in a sort of wasteland, between 50th and 118th places in the world.

Sixteen years after Hong Kong returned to the motherland, the city's roles in the global tourism markets, have changed dramatically, Lo contends. As a gateway to the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong used to enjoy unmatched advantages for attracting foreign tourists who wanted to explore the mysteries of China. With the opening up of the Chinese mainland, much of the city's allure has long gone.

"What could Hong Kong deploy to compete with Beijing or Shanghai with an international tourist who wants to learn about Chinese culture, historic sites, infrastructure, or even lifestyle?

"Apart from Disneyland, is there anything new in Hong Kong of interest to tourists since the handover in 1997? What we've seen is that Hong Kong has basically become a shopping place for our Chinese family members," Lo adds.

The HKTB doesn't agree with Lo. Data provided to China Daily, in 2013-14, shows the board earmarked HK$176.6 million for promotional campaigns in 20 visitor source markets. Over 70 percent of the budget is distributed among international markets. The remainder to promotions on the mainland.

To promote what the city has to offer, the HKTB has adopted different modalities: public relations agencies, digital marketing campaigns and forming alliances with different trade partners. "Taking into account the needs and interests of different visitor segments in different source markets, the HKTB tailors its promotions strategically," says Lau.

Lau holds that in long-haul markets, the HKTB highlights Hong Kong's cultural fusion and vibrant cosmopolitan lifestyle, showcasing the major traditional festivals and celebrations all year-round.

In short-haul markets, Hong Kong's key target markets are young adults and families. For fun-seeking youth, the HKTB highlights Hong Kong's trendy lifestyle, mega events and, the "happening scene." For the family market it promotes Hong Kong as a family-friendly and safe destination offering a full range of activities that are entertaining and fun, he adds.

Lo still isn't buying. Despite the fact that the HKTB has spent more than HK$500 million a year on promotion, it still has not changed the reality that Hong Kong has become merely a shopping mall for the people of Greater China.

Pure shopping activities shouldn't be translated into tourism, he argues. Many mainlanders who come here only come to shop, Lo insists.

"Tourists also shop in Paris, but they still spend plenty of time sight-seeing. I didn't see that happening here in Hong Kong, or because there are not many interesting places to go other than the shopping malls.

"What we see is many mainland 'tourists' purchasing milk powder and rice, or having their babies in the city, doing exactly what local people are doing, which makes them indistinguishable from us. How can we regard them as tourists?" Lo adds.

Double or quits

At the same time, retail sales of luxury goods including jewelry, watches and valuable gifts in Hong Kong have almost quadrupled over the past decade, driven by the influx of visitors from the mainland since the implementation of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) back in 2003.

The unwanted side effects of the rosy retail economy arising from mainland tourists are surging commercial property rents, which has set off inflation on the price of day to day goods. Scores of local shops and restaurants have been padlocked, including some offering time-honored brands favored by tourists. The owners can't pay the shop rents. That arouses considerable discontent among the people who live here.

In January, Lei Yuen Congee Noodles, a popular 42-year-old congee and noodle shop in Causeway Bay, closed its doors. The landlord who owned the 1,000 square foot premises doubled the rent to HK$600,000 a month.

Hotel prices in Hong Kong are sky high and create a deterrent to budget minded travelers. Hogg Robinson Group, a British firm that offers travel services, rated Hong Kong the fourth most expensive place to stay last year after comparing average hotel room rates in the 55 most expensive cities in the world. The company's research showed average hotel prices reached $332 a night in Hong Kong in 2012.

Insufficient numbers of hotel rooms, and rocketing prices add up to short stays for ordinary, budget minded travelers. They come, do their shopping and leave, Lo laments. Unlike expensive business hotels that are everywhere in Hong Kong, decent leisure hotels with affordable rates are scarce in Hong Kong, he adds.

This June, a Beijing college student was raped in an Indian manata guesthouse at Chungking Mansions in Hong Kong. The suspect allegedly entered the student's unlocked room while her companion was in the bathroom. The hostel, widely recommended among budget travelers, is priced at HK$300 per night, even with no private bathroom.

Like any other travel destination, Hong Kong faces many challenges, the HKTB's Lau admits. One of the hard realities is that the number of visitors keeps expanding while the city's tourism infrastructure and its facilities, including hotels, have their limits.

The Hong Kong government is conducting an assessment on the city's capacity for accepting visitors. When the study is complete, the HKTB, together with other relevant government departments and trade representatives will review the findings and devise a plan to deal with them, Lau told China Daily.

Lo counters, it will be a shame if no fundamental changes take place once the tourism evaluation is concluded. The government is not short of choices, Lo says. He advises some moderate development of Lantau Island, building up tourist areas separated from ordinary residences, and shopping outlets designed to lure the outside "shopaholics." Lo's argument is that these embellishments will help to ease some of the social tensions that have come with shopping-mad visitors from the mainland.

After the completion of a bridge across the Pearl River estuary to link Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao in 2016, the convenience of travel between Hong Kong and the mainland will be enhanced even further. That he sees as opportunity, but at the same time a big challenge to the city, Lo adds.

Contact the writer at litao@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 06/28/2013 page2)