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The following is the transcript of remarks (English portion) made by the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mrs Rita Lau, to the media after the district visit to Tuen Mun this afternoon (June 3) :
Reporter: What action will the government do in order to tackle the problem of package tours?
SCED: Firstly, it is important for the tourism sector to be made more self aware of the importance of upholding the professional ethics in delivering services which are promised to the consumers on their payment of the fees. And as a regulator, the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) obviously has a role to continue the surveillance on any illegal practices or malpractices and TIC has already announced its plan to do it, including in a covert manner, meaning that they will send people to detect if there are any such malpractices. In fact, on a more transparent level, they will be sending the inspectors to station in some of the shops and all the scenic spots to do spot checking on the identity of the tour guides. It is also important, at the governmental level, to facilitate the work of TIC, to ensure that TIC properly discharges its functions and that the tourism industry will do all it can to support the development of its businesses and ultimately doing good for Hong Kong's economic development.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript)
Ends/Thursday, June 3, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:24
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