Tour guides aren't in demand anymore, are they? Industry warns Hong Kong is not ready for a wave of tourists
Anxious tourism leaders want the government to give a clear
idea of plans to fully reopen to visitors as Covid-19 restrictions ease
Hong Kong had around 11,000 travel industry practitioners in
July, up from 18,500 in 2019
Hong Kong's tourism industry leaders want the government to give a clear idea of its plans to fully reopen the city, warning they won't be able to cope if hordes of visitors return.
After nearly three years in the dumps as the Covid-19
pandemic hit tourism hard, the industry has seen thousands laid off, and many
travel agencies close. Even tour buses that have been sitting idle for years
need to be repaired or replaced, says a company veteran.
Fanny Yeung, executive director of the Travel Industry
Council, said one of the biggest problems when Hong Kong finally removed
restrictions on travelers would be the shortage of workers, as many had left
the industry.
"Neither of them knows whether to leave or
return," said the woman.
Hong Kong eased its rules for visitors last month, scrapping
mandatory hotel quarantine and introducing a "0+3" system allowing
arrivals to undergo three days of medical monitoring at home or in a hotel.
They are free to move around the city but are not allowed to visit places such
as restaurants and bars.
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Despite pleas from the tourism industry to fully open up,
chief executive John Lee Ka-Chiu warned against moving too quickly, preferring
a “stable and orderly” approach as imported cases of Covid-19 have more than
doubled since the removal of quarantine in hotels.
Calling for a roadmap for the full reopening of the city,
Yeung said the industry would need time to get back into shape to start serving
large numbers of visitors again.
Tourism board data showed more than 300 agencies had closed
in the past two years, including big players with hundreds of staff and decades
of experience.
Hong Kong had around 11,000 travel industry practitioners in
July, up from 18,500 in 2019.
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Yeung said most were on unpaid leave or partial pay, with
only about a fifth working full-time. It was common for people to move on to
government jobs, which paid better, as a result of pandemic-related jobs.
Former tourism worker Yan*, in her 40s, said she had no
incentive to return to the industry she had worked in for around 20 years.
The uncertainty bothered her, and she quit last year, having
spent most of her working life in corporate roles at various travel companies.
It is the tourism sector that is affected first whenever
there are economic problems in Hong Kong, she said. "I grew more worried
about being fired every day during Covid-19. Even if it wasn't happening, I was
out of work.
She worked on a contract basis at the government's Penny's
Bay Covid-19 isolation center, earning around HK$30,000 (US$3,800) a month.
Recalling the long hours and high stress that comes with
working in tourism, she added that it would only be worse if visitors returned,
as the sector was so short of manpower.
In 2018, Hong Kong attracted a record 65.1 million visitors,
nearly four out of five of them from mainland China.
The number fell to around 55.9 million in 2019 as visitors
were put off by social unrest in the city before pandemic restrictions halted
international travel in 2020.
Hong Kong welcomed 59,610 total visitors in August, compared
to 48,048 in July, when the city's travel restrictions included a week-long
quarantine in hotels.
The number of arrivals rose the week after pandemic rules
were relaxed to the '0+3' requirement on September 26, but the figure was well
below pre-pandemic levels.
5,719 foreign visitors arrived from September 26 to October
4, excluding the mainland, and 4,716 left, a net influx of 1,003.
On January 24, 2020 - a single day before the Covid-19
figures exploded - there were 22,872 arrivals and a net influx of 9,854.
Eric Chan, director of Wheelock Travel, said his staff had
already been struggling to meet growing numbers of inquiries since the
introduction of the '0+3' scheme for visitors.
"We can't afford to pay more to hire new
employees," he said, without revealing how many employees he had. "There
is no way we can increase workloads without increasing staff."
His company did not lay off staff but tried to cut costs,
including negotiating with his landlord to reduce rent.
Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong
Tourism Association, said the industry had been affected for so long that it
was difficult to say whether tourism workers who had left would return.
Urging the government to give a clear roadmap on how long
the remaining pandemic curbs will last before Hong Kong fully opens up, he
said: "It's better if they say it clearly, so we know exactly how to plan.
advance."
Chui, executive director of One Bus Hong Kong Macau, said
many of the city's unused tour coaches needed to be repaired or replaced, and
replacements could take at least two years.
But there was no point in starting to repair the buses as
most were used for visitors from the mainland, which was sticking to its
'zero-Covid' policy with no indication of when the borders would reopen.
A Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau spokeswoman noted the
government had earmarked HK$100 million to launch global promotional programs
when travel resumes, and stated that the bureau will "partner with the
industry to promote the destination".
The Travel Industry Authority has also waived license fees
for tourist guides until 2025, to encourage practitioners to apply or maintain
their professional qualifications in the industry, it added.
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