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HAD reminds visitors to patronise licensed hotels and guesthouses
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     In anticipation of a large number of tourists coming over to Hong Kong during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays this year to enjoy the traditional Chinese festive season, the Home Affairs Department (HAD) appeals to tourists to patronise licensed hotels and guesthouses for a safe stay in Hong Kong.

     Tourists may visit the website of the HAD's Office of Licensing Authority (OLA) (www.hadla.gov.hk) to choose from the list of licensed guesthouses prior to making their reservation for accommodation. To help tourists identify guesthouses licensed under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance (the Ordinance), the OLA has required all licensed guesthouses to display a special logo (see annex) at the main entrance and on the doors of all guestrooms for easy identification.

     A spokesman for the HAD said, "Patronising licensed guesthouses is of utmost importance to ensure tourists' own safety. When processing a licence application, the OLA will ensure that the premises concerned complies with the required structural and fire safety standards as stipulated in the Ordinance, so as to ensure the safety of occupants as well as other residents and visitors to the building."

     The OLA will strengthen law enforcement during the forthcoming holidays. Apart from increasing the number of blitz inspections, it will also conduct large-scale inter-departmental joint operations in tourist accommodation hotspots.

     On the publicity front, the OLA has already stepped up related messages on railway, television and radio. Posters and banners are displayed at major immigration control points and in districts with more suspected unlicensed guesthouses to appeal to tourists to patronise licensed accommodation. Also, the OLA is collaborating with the Tourism Commission, the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Consumer Council to enhance publicity efforts and provide tourists with relevant information.

     The spokesman stressed, "It is a criminal offence to operate an unlicensed guesthouse and offenders are liable to imprisonment upon conviction. The Government will not tolerate any illegal operation and will continue enhanced enforcement actions to combat unlicensed guesthouses to ensure the safety of patrons of these establishments."

Ends/Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:00

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