HK to Step Up Efforts to Lure Mainland VisitorsThe Hong Kong Tourism Board pledged to increase its efforts to encourage the development of new attractions in Hong Kong as well as pressing for policies to be streamlined in order to attract more visitors from the mainland, an official said Thursday.Selina Chow, chairwoman of the board said that Hong Kong needed to do more to ensure tourism growth could be maintained. Speaking of attracting mainland visitors to Hong Kong, Chow said she is taking the opportunity of the go-west trip to the mainland to promote Hong Kong as a preferred destination in the Western Region of the country. The mainland is an especially important target market as it is easily Hong Kong's largest source of visitors, its 3.79 million arrivals in 2000 accounting for 29 percent of the total. Visitors from the mainland are also among the highest per capita spenders, each visitor contributing an average 4,831 HK dollars (620 U.S. dollars) to the economy last year. |
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