Mainland Tourists Love to Travel in Hong Kong

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 03, 2002

Mainland Tourists Love to Travel in Hong Kong

More than 2,500 tourists from the Chinese mainland flocked to Hong Kong on New Year's Day, the first day that the daily 1,500-person Hong Kong Tour quota was canceled.

More than 2,500 tourists from the Chinese mainland flocked to Hong Kong on New Year's Day, the first day that the daily 1,500-person Hong Kong Tour quota was canceled.

According to figures from Hong Kong's Immigration Department, atotal of 110 Hong Kong tour teams traveled around Hong Kong on January 1.

Local tourism professionals predicted that this year will see an increase of 20 to 30 percent, or about 1 million mainland tourists, traveling in Hong Kong. About 4.4 million mainland tourists visited Hong Kong last year.

In order to protect the rights of mainland tourists in Hong Kong, the Tourist Industry Council of Hong Kong has just passed a code of practice, requiring all its member agencies to make sure that tourists can get a full refund for their goods purchased within 14 days.

Such a code is expected to take effect as of February 1 this year and both the National Tourism Administration and the Hong Kong Tourism Board will join forces in publicizing such rights on the mainland and in Hong Kong, said Joseph Tung, executive director of the council.

While visiting Hong Kong, a tourist surnamed Liu from Dongguan in Guangdong Province said Hong Kong is a beautiful place. After the cancellation of the quota, application procedure for a touristvisa has been streamlined and they need to wait only seven days instead of the previous ten days, he added.

Liu's wife said Hong Kong expressed satisfaction with shopping environment in Hong Kong, adding that each of her family spent about 3,000 HK dollars (385 U.S. dollars) in their Hong Kong tour.

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