STORY: 20 years on, Individual Visit Scheme brings great benefits to Hong Kong tourism industry: official
DATELINE: July 28, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:19
LOCATION: HONG KONG, China
CATEGORY: ECONOMY
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of visitors in HK
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): DANE CHENG, HKTB Executive Director
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): DANE CHENG, HKTB Executive Director
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): DANE CHENG, HKTB Executive Director
 
STORYLINE:
 
Dane Cheng, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), said in a recent interview with Xinhua that the Individual Visit Scheme for Chinese mainland travelers launched in 2003 has brought revolutionary changes to Hong Kong's tourism industry.
 
SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): DANE CHENG, HKTB Executive Director
"The Individual Visit Scheme was introduced in 2003. In 2002, the number of the mainland visitors to Hong Kong was 6.8 million. At its peak in 2018, the number of visitors reached 51 million, an increase of about seven times, which has brought us a very large increase in the overall economic benefits of Hong Kong."
 
According to the data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board, tourism accounted for 2.5 percent of Hong Kong's GDP in 2003, rising to 4.5 percent in 2018. Employment in the tourism industry in Hong Kong has increased by about 80 percent from about 150,000 in 2003 to about 270,000 in 2023.
 
SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): DANE CHENG, HKTB Executive Director
"The way of traveling in Hong Kong has changed as now more than 90 percent of mainland tourists who visit Hong Kong have adopted the Individual Visit Scheme. The Hong Kong tourism industry has benefited greatly from the scheme. For example, 25 percent of the yield of the catering industry is generated by tourists, and about 30 percent of the retail revenue is contributed by tourists too."
 
Figures released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board show that about 13 million tourists visited Hong Kong in the first half of this year, with more than 10.11 million coming from the mainland.
 
SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): DANE CHENG, HKTB Executive Director
"Many Hong Kong residents head to the mainland for holidays. And similarly, visitors from the mainland also come to Hong Kong through high-speed railways and other means of transportation. The interaction has become more active in the tourism industry in the Greater Bay Area, showing a diversified coordination."
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Hong Kong, China.
(XHTV)