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LCQ8: Measures to assist tourism industry
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     Following is a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, to a question by the Hon Miriam Lau at the Legislative Council meeting today (June 3):

Question:

     It has been reported that the financial tsunami and the outbreak of the human swine influenza have dealt a heavy blow to the tourism industry.  The number of bookings for inbound and outbound package tours for the coming two months has dropped sharply by 60% to 70% compared with the corresponding period of last year, resulting in a large number of tour guides and leaders becoming underemployed, and more workers in the tourism industry are expected to lose their jobs if the epidemic does not subside.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)  whether it has assessed the economic losses of the tourism industry which will be caused by the persistence of the human swine influenza epidemic;

(b)  of the immediate measures to stimulate the depressed tourism industry, in order to safeguard the employment opportunities for those working in the industry and help the industry tide over the difficult times, e.g. whether it will offer new special loan schemes to the industry; and

(c)  whether it will make reference to the Skills Enhancement Project launched in 2003 for certain industries which had been hard hit by the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and launch similar projects for those working in the tourism industry, provide special allowance to the participants of these projects and launch other government-funded training courses, so that those working in the tourism industry can continue to upgrade themselves during this period of underemployment, with a view to preparing for the future?
 
Reply:

President,

(a)  The Government is very concerned about the impact of the financial crisis and human swine influenza on the tourism industry.  In this regard, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, the Secretary for Food and Health and the Commissioner for Tourism have met with the industry to understand the difficulties they face and their requests, and consider how we can render assistance.  As the development of the human swine influenza is hard to predict, at this stage it is difficult for the Government to assess accurately its impact on the tourism industry.

(b)  To assist enterprises to cope with the financial crisis, in end 2008 the Government introduced a package of relief measures, including the Special Loan Guarantee Scheme (SpGS), which aims at helping enterprises in Hong Kong, including the travel trade, to secure loans to address the liquidity issue.  So far 66 travel agents have obtained loans under the Scheme, involving a total loan amount of $78.4 million.  The Financial Secretary announced new relief measures on May 26, including extending the application period for SpGS and enhancing the assistance to enterprises.  To further encourage lending institutions to offer loans and assist enterprises in securing commercial loans, the Financial Secretary proposed to raise the Government's loan guarantee ratio from 70% to 80%.  The loan ceiling for each enterprise will be doubled from $6 million to $12 million, and the amount that can be used for revolving credit facilities will be doubled from $3 million to $6 million.  The maximum guarantee period will also be extended from three years to five years.  We believe that these measures can further assist the travel trade in securing loans from lending institutions to help them tide over the difficult times.  The Financial Secretary also proposed to waive travel agents' licence fee for one year to help reduce the trade's cost of operation.  Furthermore, in response to the requests of local tourist guides, the Commissioner for Tourism has secured the agreement of the Hong Kong Disneyland and the Ocean Park to waive the fee for their tourist guides' passes for one year with effect from June 1, 2009.  Both Ngong Ping 360 and the Wetland Park are offering free admission to tourist guides holding the Tourist Guide Pass issued by the Travel Industry Council (TIC).

     The global outbreak of the human swine influenza has seriously dampened people's desire to travel.  In view of this, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) will step up promotion before the summer peak season, in particular in short-haul markets such as the Mainland.  Separately, the HKTB has earlier allocated $21 million from its reserve to offer the industry fee concessions for participating in the promotion activities of the HKTB in 2009.  The aim is to help reduce their operating expenses and encourage them to explore new business opportunities through participation in such promotion activities.

(c)  We encourage members of the tourism industry to take part in training programmes to further enhance their skills and quality of service.  The Employees Retraining Board (ERB) is committed to providing training courses and related placement services for local employees affected by the economic downturn to assist them to change jobs or secure employment.  At present, ERB provides a total of 10 full-time placement-tied training courses for the tourism industry, including travel consultant, tourist guide, culture and eco tourist guide, project assistant for MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions), event and exhibition assistant and customer services assistant for cruises.  Full-time placement-tied courses of ERB are offered free-of-charge.  Trainees who meet the attendance requirement will be given a training allowance.  Those in need may also enrol in part-time or evening cross-sector generic skills courses, including workplace languages, computing, numeracy skills etc., to enhance their competitiveness.  ERB will closely monitor changes in the job market and flexibly handle the allocation and increase of training places where necessary.

     Separately, the Skills Upgrading Scheme (SUS) provides focused skills training for members of the tourism industry to enhance their employability and competitiveness in the market and help them adapt to the changing economic environment.  Training courses currently offered under the SUS include practical Putonghua for operational staff of travel agents, customer services and effective communication skills for travel agents, analysis of inbound tourist complaint cases, analysis of inbound tourist emergency cases, understanding and promoting tourist attractions in Hong Kong and neighbouring regions, etc.  The SUS also provides courses on enhancing emotional intelligence to help employees manage their emotions.  Furthermore, a range of training courses including cruise and geo-tourism featuring rock formation will soon be launched for those working in the tourism industry to further upgrade their skills.  The SUS courses do not provide any training allowance.  The Government subsidises 70% of the cost of the SUS courses with the remaining 30% being borne by the trainees and/or their employers.  Trainees with financial difficulties can apply for full reimbursement of course fees.

     The TIC also offers a number of courses tailored to the needs of employees of the tourism industry in discharging their work and for career development.  These include ticket pricing and ticketing certificate course, certificate course for outbound tour escorts as well as cruise selling training course.  The TIC Bonding Fund subsidises 70% of the course fee for trainees on the cruise-related course mentioned above.  For trainees who have less than three years of experience in ticketing service and have completed the ticket pricing and ticketing certificate course are eligible to apply to the Vocational Training Council for reimbursement of up to 50% of the course fee.  We will continue to encourage the industry to launch suitable courses to help their employees to continue to upgrade themselves.

Ends/Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:02

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