The new crown epidemic has lasted for more than two years, and the tourism industry has been the first to bear the brunt, and many legislators are concerned about how the government can help the tourism industry.
The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, said that the government has provided more than $3.4 billion in subsidies to the tourism industry, and the sixth round of the "Anti-epidemic Fund" also has measures to assist the industry.
According to government documents, the sixth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund launched an additional support plan for the tourism industry, introduced cash subsidies to travel agents, employees, etc., and provided resources to the HKTB, and launched the high seas version of the "Reward You" cruise to promote the recovery of the cruise industry. .
Yau Tenghua said that among the approximately 1,700 registered travel agents in Hong Kong, approximately 100 were closed due to the impact of the epidemic.
(screenshot of the meeting)
After the epidemic, the tourism ecology will have a big change
Yau Teng-wah said today (14th) at the Economic Affairs Committee of the Legislative Council that the tourism industry is one of the hardest-hit industries under the epidemic. Last year, the number of visitors to Hong Kong dropped by 99.8% compared with that before the epidemic. The hotel and retail industries were jointly affected. Among the approximately 1,700 registered travel agents, about 100 were closed due to the impact of the epidemic, but there are still many travel agencies that maintain business registration and wait for the cold winter to start again.
Yao Pak-leung, a member of the tourism industry, pointed out that the most important thing for the government to launch a plan to "protect jobs and support enterprises" is to consider setting up a "business resumption fund" to allow the industry to resume business as soon as possible after the epidemic.
Yau Tenghua pointed out that in the past, six rounds of anti-epidemic funds were launched, and during this period, there was direct contact with the industry, and the sixth round of anti-epidemic funds also took measures to assist the industry.
Yau Tenghua also pointed out that Hong Kong has communicated with the Greater Bay Area to discuss how to develop tourism in the future, and the local tourism industry must also be improved. Hong Kong tourism brands, including in-depth tours and wine and food festivals, will no longer win with shopping groups and food groups.
He also said that the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal may not be converted into a place for holding market activities in a short period of time. On the contrary, if there is a need to assist in epidemic prevention work, the authorities are willing to study with the relevant departments to use the Cruise Terminal in a short-term form.
Additional Support Scheme for the Tourism Industry: A minimum allowance of $5,000 per staff member for travel agents
The additional support scheme for the tourism industry under the sixth round of the Anti-epidemic Fund provides a flat subsidy of $50,000 to licensed travel agents. For travel agents employing 11 or more staff, the amount of the subsidy is directly linked to the number of staff. It is estimated that 1,670 travel agents will benefit from a subsidy of $5,000 for staff of travel agents, with a total commitment of about $130 million.
In addition, each travel agent employee and freelancer whose main business is a licensed tour guide or tour leader will receive a one-off subsidy of 7,500 yuan, which is expected to benefit about 19,100 people, with a total commitment of about 140 million yuan; Tourist bus drivers will be given a one-off subsidy of 5,000 yuan, benefiting about 3,400 drivers, with a total commitment of about 17 million yuan.
Licensed hotels will receive a subsidy of 300,000 yuan if the number of rooms is 100 or less, and 400,000 yuan if they have more than 100 rooms. It is expected that 290 hotels will benefit, involving 101 million yuan.
As for the high seas version of the "Reward You" cruise, local passengers who spend a total of RMB 800 in retail or catering stores at designated times can enjoy a discount of RMB 500 when booking high seas cruises.
It is estimated that about 40,000 local high seas cruise passengers, cruise companies and travel agents who sell relevant itineraries will all benefit, with a total commitment of $20 million.
+3
Ocean Park reorganization work on schedule
When asked by Pakatan Harapan Lim Kin-fung, how the government assists the business sector in freight transportation, such as freight hoarding, whether subsidies will be considered, and how the two theme parks will handle it.
In response, Yau Tenghua pointed out that the current economic environment is difficult, and the government has been assisting the industry in foreign trade. He also pointed out that last year, Hong Kong's foreign trade not only did not shrink, but also reached a new high, which was 16% higher than that in 2018.
In terms of theme parks, Qiu said that the government has always attached great importance to it. Ocean Park has promised to reorganize and the relevant work has been carried out as scheduled. However, he believes that the epidemic will always affect the business, and the government will continue to pay attention to it, emphasizing that both parks attach great importance to epidemic prevention work.
Hong Wen, a member of the Election Committee, pointed out that after the epidemic is over, the tourism industry will be difficult to recover. She believes that the overall economic structure of Hong Kong needs to be transformed to find new growth points. Many front lines need to be transformed, for example, some hotels are used as quarantine hotels or temporary housing.
Qiu responded that before the epidemic, the authorities no longer expected to continue to only measure the effectiveness of tourism based on the flow of people. It was necessary to consider changes in the quality of the industry, and found that tourism was often linked to economic activities.
He believes that the tourism industry will pay more attention to experience in the future, and believes that the tourism industry practitioners will need to provide sufficient service quality in the future, and theme parks will also need to change in this way.
Members are concerned that the anti-epidemic fund has not benefited all the tourism industry Yau Teng-wah: 3.4 billion has been allocated to the tourism industry and hope that the epidemic prevention fund will help the non-franchised bus industry. Sigh: it has already gone to the life and death anti-epidemic fund 5.0｜The tourism industry strives for 1 billion yuan to support each month Distribute 10,000 yuan to employees
