Five years after the world watched as pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong were brutally cracked down on, authorities there think they’ve figured out how to lure tourists back — and everyone needs more smiles.
According to the Hong Kong Free Press, the Hong Kong Tourism Board has launched a campaign to promote courtesy and good service towards tourists. The campaign, which features actors Louis Koo and Ng Siu-hing, aims to show that “by taking small steps to show better hospitality, we can all do so.”
But much of the messaging is aimed at hospitality and service workers, and not everyone is convinced the plan is effective or fair, and its timing — marking the fifth anniversary of mass protests against a proposed national security bill that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be extradited to mainland China for trial — has raised questions.
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‘Black Sheep’
According to Time magazine, “surly” restaurant staff “were once seen as a charming feature of Hong Kong,” but the phenomenon is increasingly being described as “an irritant” for tourists. A survey of Hong Kong’s taxi services last year also found that “rudeness” was customers’ top complaint.
Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yang Ka-yu blamed a “small number of troublemakers” for the disrespectful behaviour which “tarnished our image”.
The tourism industry is also experiencing a severe shortage of experienced staff as people who were laid off or returned to their home countries during the pandemic have not yet returned.
Yen announced a three-pronged approach, with the Education Bureau promoting programs to teach students good manners, and the Interior Ministry organizing community activities to encourage friendship and offering rewards for “good performances.” Yen hopes that a more smiley attitude and spirit will become “part of everyday life” and make tourists “feel right at home,” Says reported.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Lee Ka-chao has endorsed the campaign, urging all residents to take part in it to “enhance” the experience of visitors. “We should all be more polite, more kind and smile more,” he said.
“Celebrity Nudges”
It’s true that Hong Kong has a tourism problem: Tourist arrivals to the city peaked at more than 6.7 million per month in January 2019, but are expected to fall to less than half that figure by April 2024, according to data from the Hong Kong Statistics Department and Tourism Board.
According to the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Bureau, Hong Kong’s tourism recovery since the pandemic has “lagged” compared to neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Singapore. This is partly because Hong Kong is “heavily dependent” on mainland Chinese tourists who refrained from traveling abroad after the pandemic, and because Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore are offering visa-free travel to “attract tourists from mainland China.” The strength of the Hong Kong dollar against other regional currencies also has a “discouraging effect on tourism.”
With airlines not restoring flight numbers to Hong Kong to pre-pandemic levels, long-haul travelers are not returning in the same numbers, driving up prices for remaining flights, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.
But Beijing’s draconian national security law is also having negative effects, with the United States, Canada and Australia all issuing travel advisories for Hong Kong, citing the “arbitrary” law.
After tougher security laws were passed in March, Australia renewed its warning to Hong Kong, saying people “may be detained without charge for up to 16 days and denied access to a lawyer for up to 48 hours.”
The tourism bureau has “the tough task of restoring Hong Kong’s appeal as a tourist destination”, said Anika Park, a reporter for the South China Morning Post, but rallying “a cast of flawless celebrities to blame frontline service staff” is “not the right answer”.
“I would love to know if any of the celebrities on the ad call sheets have worked in the service industry,” she says. Rather than “imposing our expectations on minimum wage workers,” what if stars “donned a dirty apron for a day to connect with and empathize with the realities of frontline restaurant work?”
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