Hong Kong Tourism Board: Actively alleviating the shortage of manpower in the tourism industry and the challenges of digital transformation, shaping a more attractive tourism brand.

Today, Alice Lau, the Director of Hong Kong's Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau, responded in writing to questions from legislative council members about promoting the development of the tourism industry. Over the past three years, various tourism promotions launched by the Hong Kong Tourism Board have received positive feedback, not only successfully showcasing Hong Kong's recovery after the pandemic but also creating a lively atmosphere in the city and attracting visitors. "Hong Kong Tourism Industry Development Blueprint 2.0" outlines the overall direction and strategy for the development of the tourism industry in the next five years. The Bureau will continue to work closely with relevant policy bureaus/departments and executing agencies to actively address challenges such as labor shortages in the tourism industry and digital transformation in order to enhance service levels and ensure that visitors can experience Hong Kong's hospitality, thereby shaping a more attractive tourism brand. The effectiveness of the Hong Kong Tourism Board's tourism promotion efforts cannot be fully evaluated quantitatively. However, the Board sets different indicators for the nature of its publicity and activities, such as website traffic, social media reach, global media exposure, participant satisfaction, likelihood to recommend to friends and family, and likelihood of repeat participation to measure effectiveness. The various tourism promotions launched by the Board over the past three years have received positive feedback, not only successfully showcasing Hong Kong's recovery after the pandemic but also creating a lively atmosphere in the city, giving visitors more reasons to visit, and attracting them to do so, with results meeting the expected targets. The Hong Kong Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) announced the "Hong Kong Tourism Industry Development Blueprint 2.0" on December 30, 2024, outlining the overall direction of Hong Kong's tourism industry development from 2025 to 2030. The Blueprint proposes four development positions, four development strategies, covering product development, expanding customer sources, technological innovation, and service enhancement, aiming to promote the prosperous and healthy development of the Hong Kong tourism industry. The Blueprint also presents 133 specific actions and measures beneficial to tourism development, striving to stimulate the tourism market through multi-dimensional strategies, enhance the quality and content of tourism products and services, and further drive different industries to jointly promote the development of Hong Kong's tourism industry. These measures are categorized according to short-term (within three years), medium-term (three to six years), and long-term (over six years) implementation times and related performance indicators are listed in the Blueprint. The CSTB has been maintaining communication with various tourism-related sectors, including the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the Hong Kong Tourism Council, the Tourism Industry Regulatory Authority, the Hong Kong Hotel Association, and the Hong Kong Hotel Owners Association, understanding the current human resources situation in various job categories within the industry and exploring feasible measures to respond to short, medium, and long-term human resource needs. One of the development strategies proposed in the Blueprint focuses on comprehensively enhancing the quality of tourism industry services and supporting facilities, cultivating talents, with 31 measures covered. In line with the related strategy, the CSTB will continue to maintain close communication with tertiary institutions in Hong Kong offering courses related to hotel and tourism, encouraging collaboration between tertiary institutions and the industry to hold career fairs and lectures, enhancing young people's understanding of the prospects of the tourism industry, promoting various tourism volunteer/youth ambassador programs, training young people interested in joining the tour guide profession, and actively exploring further expansion of the "Stay-in-Hong-Kong Scheme for Vocational and Tertiary Graduates" to courses related to hotel management, tourism, and hospitality with relevant policy bureaus. On the other hand, the government has allocated HK$100 million in the 2022-2023 financial year to support the training and development of tourism practitioners. The Tourism Industry Regulatory Authority will continue to use the funding to support industry training and introduce measures to attract more talents to the tourism industry and enhance the professionalism of the industry, including researching the talent needs of different professions such as guides, tour leaders, and travel agents through data collection, and formulating more detailed and comprehensive human resource strategies, supporting tertiary institution students in obtaining tour guide licenses, reviewing and streamlining the content and requirements of tour guide licensing examinations and pre-examination training, launching the Tour Organizer to Guide Scheme and the "Specialized and Professional" program to increase the supply of professional tour guides in the market, and collaborating with the Tourism Council in internships and talent matching to improve the industry's talent supply and demand. Additionally, starting from September 4, 2023, the Hong Kong Labor Department introduced the "Supplementary Labor Optimization Program" to alleviate labor shortages in various industries (including the accommodation services sector). If a hotel employer is unable to recruit suitable staff locally, they can apply through the program to import technicians at the technician level or below. As of March 31, 2025, the program has approved hotel employers to hire 1633 workers, mainly involving positions such as housekeepers, waiters, and receptionists. In assisting the industry in digital transformation, the government allocated a total of HK$70 million to the Tourism Council in the 2016-2017, 2018-2019, and 2023-2024 budgets, launching the "Travel Agency Information Technology Development Matching Fund Scheme" to provide funding to eligible travel agencies in a matching format. The funded projects cover areas such as improving efficiency and productivity through big data, digital marketing, information technology system security, developing mobile apps, and optimizing websites to encourage the industry to upgrade through technology, enhancing the ability of travel agencies to expand their business through information technology.