Hong Kong launched a campaign to promote courtesy and good service towards tourists on Monday.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board’s (HKTB) “Let’s Go the Extra Mile” hospitality campaign encourages frontline staff and members of the public make a special effort with visitors.
The HKTB said its new TV promotion, starring actors Louis Koo and Ng Siu-hin, shows “how we can all better demonstrate the hospitality by going the extra mile with small gestures, while highlighting the city’s professional-quality services, thus leaving a positive impression on customers.”
Last month, HKTB chair Pang Yiu-kai said the top complaints from visitors in 2023 included unfriendly retailers, waiters and taxi drivers, as well as poor telecoms and wi-fi services. He urged customer service staff to smile more.
Meanwhile, a “HK Pals” volunteers programme has been launched to recruit youngsters to act as hosts for visitors and share their experiences.
‘We should smile more’
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung said at Monday’s launch ceremony that courtesy should be a priority, after reports of tourists being treated impolitely by “black sheep.”
“The most important thing is to make our tourists feel welcome. We can do that with a smile, or by asking a few questions or just making them feel cared for… We want their needs to be met. I’m confident that Hongkongers are hospitable by nature. We’re polite. We need to do more to remind each other so that we can do better,” he said, according to RTHK, adding that the government would consider a reward scheme for those who displayed good attitudes.
Chief Executive John Lee backed the hospital scheme at a Tuesday press conference. “The government is advocating hospitality, I ask you all to take part, to enhance visitors’ experience,” Lee said through an interpreter. “We should be more courteous, we should be more helpful, we should smile more, we should take the extra mile to promote Hong Kong’s hospitality so that Hong Kong will become a well-known place where visitors are welcome.”
Tourism drive
The drives comes as Hong Kong seeks to re-establish its reputation as a desirable tourist destination after it made international headlines for large-scale protests and unrest in 2019, stringent Covid-19 travel curbs, and national security laws that have seen dozens of activists detained. Countries including the US and Canada recently warned travellers about “arbitrary enforcement of local laws” following the enactment of further security legislation.
Visitor arrivals have risen since the city fully reopened its borders to travellers last February following three years of anti-epidemic isolation, however numbers still lag behind pre-pandemic levels. The majority of arrivals hail from mainland China, followed by short-haul markets. Long-haul travellers, historically those who spend the most, have been much slower to resume.
The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau has predicted a 16 per cent decrease in tourists’ expenditure in 2024 from last year.
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