Following is a question by the Hon Vivian Kong and a written reply by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, in the Legislative Council today (October 7):
 
Question:
 
     Since the beginning of this year, the Travel Industry Authority (TIA) has taken a number of enforcement and disciplinary actions in respect of cases in which members of inbound tour groups were coerced to shop, and has imposed severe penalties on the tourist guides, travel agents and relevant registered shops involved in the contraventions, including revoking the licences of the travel agents and tourist guides concerned, as well as suspending the registration of the shops concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it knows the number of investigations conducted by the TIA in respect of suspected coerced shopping since commencement of its full-scale operation in September 2022; the penalties imposed on the licence holders or registered shops concerned (including the revocation or suspension of licences/registration), and the number of cases in which additional conditions were imposed;
 
(2) whether the TIA has, in terms of addressing the problems at source and improving the system, explored, assessed and studied the long-term solutions to malpractices such as coerced shopping;
 
(3) apart from coerced shopping, of the major categories of non-compliances in relation to practices in the tourism industry that the TIA has handled so far (such as hiking tours led by unlicensed local or cross-boundary tourist guides), and the respective numbers of such non-compliance cases;
 
(4) whether the TIA will strengthen information exchange and collaboration with departments such as the Police, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Immigration Department and the Customs and Excise Department, and step up joint enforcement actions at tourist hotspots, country parks, commercial retail areas and so on, so as to continuously combat non-compliant practices in the tourism industry (including unlicensed tourist guides);
 
(5) whether the TIA has taken joint or collaborative actions with the relevant law enforcement departments in the Mainland since September 2022 to combat contraventions of the rules and regulations concerning the tourism industry in the two places;
 
(6) apart from strengthening regulation, how the TIA will promote the healthy development of the industry and enhance the professional standards of practitioners (including the latest progress of the specialised tourist guide licensing programme recently launched), so as to meet the growing demand of the visitors to Hong Kong for in-depth travel and diversified experiences with local characteristics; and
 
(7) as the TIA has launched the Tourist Guides and Tour Escorts Commendation Scheme to recognise outstanding practitioners in the industry, whether the TIA will consider expanding and regularising the Scheme to promote the high-quality development of the tourism industry and showcase the professional and positive image of the tourism industry in Hong Kong?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The tourism industry is a major industry driving Hong Kong's economic growth and creating employment opportunities, which also serves as an important platform for telling good stories of Hong Kong. The Government has all along been committed to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of visitors to Hong Kong, adopting a "zero-tolerance" approach towards coerced shopping, and stringently combating unlawful practices that damage Hong Kong's tourism reputation, with a view to consolidating Hong Kong's position as a premier world-class tourism destination.
      
     In consultation with the Security Bureau, the Environment and Ecology Bureau, and the Travel Industry Authority (TIA), the reply to the question raised by the Hon Vivian Kong is as follows:
 
(1) and (2) Under the Travel Industry Ordinance (the Ordinance), licensed travel agents and licensed tourist guides must comply with the conditions imposed on their licences, otherwise they commit an offence. A travel agent is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for two years, and a tourist guide is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and imprisonment for one year. The Travel Industry (General) Regulation stipulates that licensed travel agents and licensed tourist guides must take all reasonable steps to safeguard the safety and interests of any participant of a tour group, and ensure that no participant of the tour group is subject to coerced shopping, whether through the use of harassment, coercion or undue influence.
 
     Since coming into full operation, the TIA has conducted over 10 000 inspections focusing on registered shops receiving visitors for shopping, averaging about 3 300 inspections annually, and has taken action on eight cases of alleged coerced shopping. Among these, the licences of three travel agents and four tourist guides were revoked for contravening the relevant requirements. The TIA has also referred the relevant cases to the Department of Justice to consider further criminal prosecution. In addition, a registered shop participating in the Administrative Scheme for Registered Shops (the Administrative Scheme) had its registration suspended by the TIA for 30 days for failing to make every effort to prevent coerced shopping involving visitors, violating its undertaking under the Administrative Scheme. The management and frontline staff of the shop were also required to undergo additional training provided by the TIA. The TIA will continue to enhance training for staff of other registered shops to continuously consolidate their understanding of the regulatory requirements.
      
     Through the Joint Regulatory Alliance of the Tourism Market of 9+2 Cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the TIA exchanges intelligence with the Mainland to coordinate efforts in combating cross-boundary non-compliant acts such as unreasonably low-priced tours and illegal tourist guides, thereby reducing the risk of coerced shopping at source. Since the beginning of this year, the TIA has notified the relevant Mainland authorities of over 15 online advertisements involving unreasonably low-priced tours, which were subsequently removed. Recent inspections also show that the number of such advertisements has decreased.
 
(3) to (5) Apart from the aforementioned cases of alleged coerced shopping, the suspected non-compliant acts handled by the TIA since coming into full operation, and the number of related investigation cases, are tabulated below:
 

Nature of cases	Number of cases
Failure to submit the statement of accounts and auditor's report for the relevant financial year within the specified period, violating travel agent licence conditions	250
Contravention of the requirements set out in the Directives for Licensees (Note 1)	120
Change of ownership or control of a travel agent without the written approval of the TIA  (Note 1)	58
Provision of false or misleading information in licence applications (Note 1)	35
Carrying on travel agent business without a licence or acting as a tour escort or tourist guide without a licence (Note 1)	29

     The TIA has established a regular communication and collaboration mechanism with the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), the Immigration Department (ImmD), the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), and other relevant government departments. Joint inspections, enforcement actions, as well as promotional and educational activities are conducted at tourist hotspots, boundary control points, registered shops receiving inbound tour groups, and country parks as necessary.
      
     Over the past few months, the TIA and the ImmD have successively conducted joint enforcement actions at tourist hotspots such as the East Dam of High Island Reservoir in Sai Kung, Tsim Sha Tsui, the West Kowloon Cultural District and Central to combat illegal engagement in tourist guide work and other related illegal acts. Both parties have also stepped up joint inspections as well as promotional and educational work during the Mainland Golden Week holidays and peak visitor periods, reminding visitors not to patronise illegal tourist guides or tour escorts. The TIA also maintains close collaboration with the C&ED, including conducting joint inspections and promotional and educational activities at various tourist and shopping hotspots prior to the Mainland Golden Week holidays, to remind the trade to operate compliantly and safeguard the consumer rights of visitors.
      
     The TIA also exchanges intelligence and follows up with the AFCD on cases involving tour groups and suspected unlicensed tourist guides around country parks and the Geopark. Furthermore, the TIA collaborates with the Transport Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, the Department of Health, and the Airport Authority Hong Kong on matters relating to traffic, environmental hygiene, and visitor protection. The TIA also exchanges information with the HKPF regarding tour group activities, crowd control, and traffic order, and coordinates traffic arrangements at attractions, restaurants, and boundary control points as necessary to minimise the impact on residents and traffic.
      
     In terms of cross-boundary co-operation, apart from the work in combating unreasonably low-priced tours, the TIA has established an intelligence exchange and case referral mechanism with relevant Mainland authorities. If the TIA discovers clues involving Mainland tour organising agents, online platforms, or other suspected non-compliant activities, it will notify the Mainland authorities in charge under the mechanism for follow-up actions in accordance with the law. To date, the TIA has reported 31 suspected non-compliant cases to the relevant Mainland authorities. The TIA will also follow up on suspected non-compliant cases involving Hong Kong licensed travel agents, tourist guides or tour escorts, and Mainland inbound tour groups as referred by the Mainland authorities.
 
(6) and (7) The TIA promotes the development of the industry on various fronts, including:
 
(i) The training courses and licensing examinations for tourist guides and tour escorts are now taught and assessed in accordance with Qualifications Framework Level 3 (QF Level 3). The TIA has also expanded the scope of recognised continuing professional development activities to cover areas such as smart tourism and language proficiency, supporting practitioners in continuously upgrading their service standards.
 
(ii) The TIA launched the specialised tourist guide licensing programme in 2026, under which specialised tourist guide (STG) licences are issued for individual professional areas to attract persons with relevant knowledge to join the industry and encourage the trade to nurture tourist guide talents with specialist knowledge. The STG licences launched so far include the Geopark tourist guide licence and the reception services tourist guide licence. The TIA plans to expand the programme to cover other fields, such as in‑depth tours focusing on history and culture by the end of 2027 to further increase the supply of professional tourist guides.
 
(iii) To attract more young people to join the tourism industry, the TIA actively promotes professional qualification articulation with tertiary institutions. Following the recognition of two full-time programmes of the Vocational Training Council, the TIA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Education University of Hong Kong in September 2026 to recognise its relevant courses as specified training courses for tourist guides and tour escorts, allowing students who have completed the relevant courses to directly sit for the relevant licensing examination to obtain industry-recognised professional qualifications.
 
(iv) To recognise the contributions of professional tourist guides and tour escorts to Hong Kong's tourism industry, and to encourage the trade to continuously enhance service quality, the TIA held the first Tourist Guide and Tour Escort Recognition Scheme in March 2026, selecting six Outstanding Tourist Guides and six Outstanding Tour Escorts to commend excellent practitioners. The TIA plans to organise the second Recognition Scheme next year.
 
Note 1: These cases involved contravention of the requirements set out in the Directives for Licensees which TIA promulgated pursuant to the power conferred by section 152(2)(k) of the Ordinance, for examples: failing to issue within the required time limit a receipt with a levy stamp, changing itinerary without consent, and failing to set out the specified information in the written itineraries of Mainland inbound tour groups.

Ends/Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Issued at HKT 14:25

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