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LCQ19: 2006 Hong Kong Winterfest
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    Following is the question by the Hon Sin Chung-kai and a written reply by the Secretary for Economic Development and Labour, Mr Stephen Ip, in the Legislative Council today (December 13):

Question:

     The Hong Kong WinterFest (the WinterFest) organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) from the 24th of last month to the 1st of next month features, among others, a Santa's Town at the Statue Square in Central.  In this regard, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a) the budget of the WinterFest, together with a breakdown of various items including, in particular, the budget of Santa's Town, and how HKTB determined this sum;

(b) if HKTB has charged advertising fees for promoting the merchandise, food premises, shops and shopping malls on the web-pages for the WinterFest; if it has, of the details; if not, the criteria adopted by HKTB for selecting the merchandise and shops to be promoted; and

(c) if HKTB has selected the contractor responsible for setting up Santa's Town through a tender process; if it has, of the tendering procedure, specific work to be undertaken by the contractor, and the number of bids received by HKTB; if it has not, the reasons for that?

Reply;

Madam President,

(1) The estimated budget for staging and promoting the 40-day 2006 Hong Kong WinterFest organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is around $17.3 million.  The breakdown is shown in the table.

     In estimating the budget for Hong Kong WinterFest and other mega events, the HKTB took into account past experience in organising events of similar scale and the latest business environment and cost levels.

(2) Hong Kong WinterFest offers a free promotional platform for retail, catering and related sectors.  The objectives are to help build up festive ambience and stimulate visitors¡¦ spending through special offers and privileges by merchants.  There are no advertising or participation fees.

     Merchants participating in Hong Kong WinterFest must be registered with the HKTB's Tourism Service Provider Database with no customer complaint record over the past 12 months, and are capable of providing quality service and maintaining professional ethical standards.  Besides, they must fulfil the following requirements:

(a) help build a festive atmosphere, such as displaying or distributing to visitors Hong Kong WinterFest promotional materials in their outlets;

(b) provide incentive offers to visitors in the form of discounts, free gifts and other privileges;

(c) comply with the Hong Kong WinterFest participating merchant terms and conditions throughout the promotional period (e.g. goods/services are clearly and visibly price tagged and code tagged, pricing of the goods/services are reasonable and comparable with recommended retail price, counterfeit goods or goods that infringe others' intellectual property rights must not be displayed or offered for sale, etc.); and

(d) provide details of special promotions during the period to HKTB for featuring on the mega event website.

     HKTB sent invitation letters to all the Tourism Service Provider Database registered merchants in September 2006, and set out the requirements above in the invitation letters.

(3) The HKTB selected the contractor for setting up the Santa's Town in accordance with its tendering procedures, summarised as follows:
 
(a) Invitation to tender with project brief was sent to eight design-and-build contractors in September 2006.  They were required to submit their bids in sealed envelopes before the closing date of September 25.

(b) A briefing session was held for interested contractors in mid-September, with a total of six design-and-build contractors attending.

(c) A tender board meeting was convened in end-September to evaluate all the proposals submitted.  A total of four design-and-build contractors submitted proposals.

(d) The tender board rated and selected the bidders in accordance with the selection criteria and marking system specified in the tender documents.  The bidder with the highest marks was selected to undertake the project.

     The design-and-build contractor is responsible for supplying sufficient labour and materials as well as deploying suitable tools for the design, alteration, transport, construction, installation, decoration, lighting, repair, dismantling and removal of all the decorative items in a professional and timely manner.

Ends/Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:42

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