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Residents of three Guangdong cities may apply to visit Hong Kong in their individual capacity from July 28, a Government spokesman said today (June 29).

Initially, residents of three cities (Dongguan, Zhongshan and Jiangmen) may apply for an "individual visit" endorsement from the Mainland public security bureau offices to visit Hong Kong. At present, Mainland residents visiting Hong Kong for sightseeing purpose can only come as members of group tours.

"The scheme will commence in these three cities as a pilot. The aim is to extend the scheme to the whole of Guangdong not later than July 2004," the spokesman said.

Guangdong residents with permanent household registration in these three cities are eligible to apply for the exit endorsement from the relevant Mainland authorities.

The endorsement is valid for three months and good for one or two visits to Hong Kong. The holder can stay in Hong Kong for seven days on each visit. Eligible applicants may apply for a new endorsement once the current one has expired or has been used up. There is no quota on the number of endorsements to be issued.

"The pilot scheme will facilitate the entry of Guangdong tourists which is beneficial to the local tourism, retail and other related industries."

"Immigration Department will deploy sufficient manpower to cope with the anticipated increase in the number of visitors," the spokesman added.

"From the tourism angle, this scheme will open up a new market of Mainland Free Independent Travellers for the tourism industry of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is well prepared to work with its travel trade partners in launching a package of promotional activities and will provide a desirable business platform for the trade. It will disseminate relevant and sufficient information, especially on shopping hotspots, cuisines and niche tour packages, to these visitors through various channels like publications and its web site, so that visitors will have ample choices of activities in Hong Kong. We also believe that the travel trade will come up with market products to suit this group of customers. At the same time, the Tourism Commission will work with HKTB on relaunch activities including mega events, a Hong Kong citywide lucky draw and other promotions to attract visitors to Hong Kong," the spokesman added.

Last year, about 1.2 million Mainland group tour visitors came to Hong Kong for sightseeing.

End/Sunday, June 29, 2003

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