LCQ3: Promoting the integrated development of culture, sports and tourism
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     Following is a question by the Hon Ma Fung-kwok and a reply by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, in the Legislative Council today (November 23):
 
Question:
      
     In December 2020, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Office of the Leading Group for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the People's Government of Guangdong Province jointly promulgated the Culture and Tourism Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("the Culture and Tourism Plan") with a view to jointly developing a cultured bay area, and the new-term SAR Government has also established the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau ("CSTB"). On promoting the integrated development of culture, sports and tourism, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) given that the Culture and Tourism Plan has put forward a number of projects related to the development of culture and tourism, such as projects on the preservation and transmission of cultural heritage in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA"), the platform on coordinated cultural development for the GBA, and tourism projects with characteristics of the GBA (such as the Tai O fishing village in Hong Kong), of the specific plans the authorities have put in place to follow up the projects put forward in the Culture and Tourism Plan;
 
(2) of the measures the authorities have put in place to take on board the views of stakeholders of the cultural, sports and tourism sectors, so as to promote the integrated development of culture, sports and tourism; whether the authorities will consider setting up a Commission on Strategic Development for Culture, Sports and Tourism to establish a platform for direct communication and cooperation with the three sectors in respect of specific work and policies; and
 
(3) whether the authorities will, in accordance with the contents of the Culture and Tourism Plan, as well as in the light of the establishment of CSTB and the latest development of the tourism industry, update the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry formulated in 2017, so as to achieve the greatest synergy among culture, sports and tourism?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Culture, sports and tourism can complement and reinforce one another's developments. Tourism requires exciting and diverse content to entice visitors while culture and sports can exactly offer the very content required for visitors' appreciation and experience. At the same time, as visitors take part in and have a taste of Hong Kong's culture, which is rooted in the Chinese culture, and our major sports events, we would be able to showcase to the world different aspects of Hong Kong, tell good stories about Hong Kong on the one hand and expand Hong Kong's audience for cultural and sports events on the other hand, thereby creating additional room for the development of culture and sports in Hong Kong and fostering their development as industries. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) I am leading will vigorously foster the integration among culture, sports and tourism so as to drive the development of these three aspects more effectively.
 
     My reply to the three parts of Hon Ma's question is as follows: 
      
(1) The Culture and Tourism Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the Plan) sets out the guiding directions for the overall cultural and tourism development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and guides the development of the GBA into an exchange hub for culture of the East and the West and a world-class tourism destination. Since the promulgation of the Plan, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been actively taking forward multiple initiatives of different types based on the guiding directions of the Plan. 

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) arranges for art groups and traditional craftsmen of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to participate in performances or production of artworks in Hong Kong every year. The governments of the three places co-present "A Showcase of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Cantonese Opera Masters / New Stars" every two years to enhance cultural exchanges while promoting tourism.

     ​In addition, the LCSD has been supporting Hong Kong arts groups and artists to undertake cultural exchange in the GBA and has supported 45 local productions of different genres to stage a total of 127 performances in seven cities of the GBA since 2018. The LCSD has also established its network and communication mechanism with major performance venues in the GBA. Besides, Create Hong Kong has supported a number of activities to promote the development of the creative industries in the GBA, which include participating in the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Biannual Meeting to Discuss the Development of Film Industries 2021", inviting cities of the GBA to participate in the "Business of Design Week", sponsoring PMQ in organising the "Renewed Creativity" roving exhibition in Shenzhen.
 
     At the same time, Hong Kong makes efforts in establishing synergised cultural development platforms in the GBA, including the hosting of the Hong Kong 2022 International Society for the Performing Arts Congress online in May this year, with the participation of some 400 leaders and professionals in the arts and cultural field from over 30 regions. The Government also plans to organise the first-ever Hong Kong Performing Arts Market in 2024, which will serve as a platform for showcasing the works of top‑notch performing artists and arts groups from Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas.
      
     Under the guiding direction of developing more tourism products and itineraries with unique characteristics as set out in the Plan, we have been enhancing Hong Kong's tourism resources and supporting facilities based on the principle of "shaping tourism with cultural activities and promoting culture through tourism". We rolled out in recent years various cultural, heritage, creative and green tourism projects with unique characteristics, including Yim Tin Tsai Arts Festival, Design District Hong Kong, City in Time, and the enhancement of hiking trails, and we are working at full steam to deliver new phases of these projects. The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has also been publicising the tourism experience of arts and culture offered by Hong Kong through its ongoing "Arts in Hong Kong" promotional campaign. Furthermore, we have been enhancing and upgrading our major tourist attractions such as the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, the Ocean Park, and the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD). We also launched in October this year the Cultural and Heritage Sites Local Tour Incentive Scheme to incentivise the travel trade to develop products with cultural and heritage elements.
 
     Based on the guiding directions of the Plan, the CSTB will continue to proactively pursue integration into the national development and work hand in hand with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as well as the culture and tourism authorities in the GBA to develop a world-class bay area for culture and leisure.
 
(2) The Government has been capitalising on the cultural and sports resources of Hong Kong to promote tourism and established the CSTB, with the aim of enhancing the synergy among the three aspects by enabling the teams responsible for cultural, sports and tourism matters within the Government to have closer liaison with one another, set common goals, and bring forth organic collaboration. 
     
     In addition to maintaining regular communication with individual stakeholders in the cultural, sports and tourism sectors, the Government, through various advisory and statutory bodies, such as the Sports Commission, Tourism Strategy Group (TSG), the Advisory Committee on Arts Development, and the HKTB, has been liaising closely with the sectors and gauging their views in relevant policy areas.
      
     The Policy Address this year also announced the establishment of the Culture Commission to assist the Government in mapping out a Blueprint for Arts and Culture and Creative Industries Development so as to enhance the ecosystem for the industries. We will continue to make good use of those platforms to discuss cross-sectoral issues with the sectors (e.g. we consulted the TSG in the past on the development of the WKCD) so as to foster their exchange and collaboration and thereby create more synergy among the sectors. Those channels have enabled the CSTB to have a better picture of the overall state, views and needs of individual sectors as well as the three sectors as a whole, and adopt a more forward-looking approach in formulating development strategies and directions. Moreover, in appointing members to the advisory and statutory bodies of the three sectors, we will continue to consider appointing cross-sectoral or inter-disciplinary candidates and inviting the same person to serve on the advisory or statutory bodies of different sectors simultaneously so as to foster the integration among the sectors and their synergistic development.
 
(3) The Government promulgated in 2017 the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry (the Blueprint) setting out the vision of developing Hong Kong into a world-class premier tourism destination as well as four development strategies which include, among others, nurturing and developing tourism products and initiatives with local and international characteristics. Implementation goals under this strategy include facilitating the development of local historical and heritage, cultural and creative tourism as well as supporting the staging of events and activities of different scales and nature in Hong Kong. The strategy well echoes with the Plan's guiding direction of developing more tourism products and itineraries with characteristics and its initiatives of developing cultural and heritage tourism as well as international major sports events tourism. It is evident that the Blueprint and the Plan share the same vision and the implementation goals set out in the Blueprint well align with the CSTB's policy goal of fostering collaboration among culture, sports and tourism.

     Based on the Blueprint, the Government will continue to enhance existing measures and initiatives, timely roll out new ones and thoroughly implement the Plan and its principle of "shaping tourism with cultural activities and promoting culture through tourism" among others, so as to unleash Hong Kong's roles as an international tourism hub and a core demonstration zone for multi-destination tourism. 

Ends/Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Issued at HKT 16:10

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