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Following is a question by the Hon Paul Tse and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (April 1):
Question:
I have learnt that recently some foreign travellers complained about being deceived. They said that upon their arrival at the Hong Kong International Airport, someone who claimed to be a driver from the hotel in which they intended to stay drove them, in a car suspected to be a bogus hotel saloon, to the vicinity of the hotel, and then demanded excessively high fares from them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows if the Airport Authority Hong Kong and the Police have received similar complaints since last year; if so, of the total number of such cases, as well as the progress of the investigations concerned; and
(b) what measures are in place to prevent a recurrence of such incidents; whether it will take measures shortly to raise the alertness of travellers, so as to avoid them from being deceived?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Government is highly concerned about activities regarding illegal carriage of passengers for hire or reward. In this regard, the Police would take vigorous enforcement actions against all illegal activities. Since the implementation of new traffic management measures at the Hong Kong International Airport and enhanced controls on loading and unloading of passengers/goods in 2007, illegal transport activities at the Hong Kong International Airport has reduced significantly. The Police and the Airport Authority Hong Kong (Airport Authority) have not received any complaints regarding bogus hotel saloon since last year.
(b) The Transport Department, the Police and the Airport Authority have set up a special task force since July 2005 to deal with and follow-up on illegal transport activities at the Airport. The Transport Department would continue to liaise and exchange views with the transport trade to review and improve relevant control measures.
In respect of hotel saloon cars, vehicles approved for such operation at the Airport may only load and unload passengers at the designated Hotel & Travel Agent Limousine Waiting Lounge. Hotel service counters and hotel staff in uniforms at the Arrival Hall may provide assistance to passengers and escort them to the designated Waiting Lounge for boarding. The Airport Authority would continue to enhance publicity and directional signs to keep visitors informed of the arrangement and transport choices available to and from the Airport. The Police and the Airport Authority would also step up patrolling at the Arrival Hall and the car parks to prevent illegal touting activities.
Furthermore, the Airport Authority and the Hong Kong Tourism Board have provided information on availability of major transport choices (including limousines services) at the Airport on their websites and other visitor information publications. The Transport Department has also produced taxi information flyers for distribution to tourists and taxi passengers at the Airport. The flyer includes information of basic fares of the three types of taxis, the approximated taxi fares from the Airport to some designed locations, as well as relevant hotlines. The Visitor Centre set up by the Hong Kong Tourism Board at the Airport also provides visitors with comprehensive tourist information including advice on means of transport available.
Ends/Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:01
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