Thank you, Deputy President. Last year’s passenger traffic has returned to the pre-epidemic level, recording increases in both Mainland and foreign tourists. However, the travel and spending habits of inbound tourists have changed, with fewer tourists coming to Hong Kong for shopping and more tourists seeking non-shopping tourism experiences. Making good use of Hong Kong’s precious and unique island and coastal resources to develop in-depth cultural tours is an attractive highlight for tourists. I would like to thank Mr Kenneth LAU for proposing today’s motion and other Members for their amendments, allowing us to explore the direction of the development of island tourism.
In order to promote marine tourism, the most important thing is to reshape the value of island tourism and establish the positioning that each island has its own characteristics and stories. Hong Kong has more than 200 outlying islands, many of which have unique cultural backgrounds and long histories, e.g. the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, the Lamma fisherfolk culture, and the traditional stilt houses in Tai O. While these larger islands have been moderately developed, we can select 10 to 20 smaller islands for focused packaging and development to create unique stories based on the background and history of each island, and to upgrade experiences through cultural empowerment so that tourists can have deeper cultural experiences during visits.
Moreover, existing attractions can also be combined with local intangible cultural heritage, turning local culture into tourism products so that tourists will pay for unique experiences. For example, the introduction of salt-making workshops and stilt house dinner for in-depth experiences in Tai O where certified instructors will introduce the salt making techniques, and dried products including dried seafood will be cooked in the traditional manner so that tourists can try the foods with a salty taste that they prepared in traditional stilt houses. A Tai O shrimp paste production certification course may also be introduced, turning traditional craftsmanship into unique experiences. In addition, each island needs to explore its characteristics and tourism potential, and promote community co-creation projects, e.g. inviting the residents of stilt houses in Tai O and fishermen to cooperate with cultural and creative teams to transform the traditional technique of fishing net weaving into a work of art to enhance cultural heritage and tourism attractiveness. The Rainbow Village in Taichung City, for example, has revitalized the old village with colourful graffiti artworks, successfully attracting photo-taking by tourists from all over the world. As tourists can enjoy the natural scenery and local culture while strolling around the outlying islands, they may want to stay longer for more experiences. Tourists seeking in-depth cultural experiences may also be attracted to revisit regularly for different classes and festivals.
Xiamen’s Gulangyu Island has always been a popular tourism city. For many years, it has been a popular place for “stamp collecting and photo-taking”, and tourists will visit every corner of the island and imprint the stamps on stamp books at scenic spots or speciality shops, forming their own exclusive memories. As there are many small islands in Hong Kong, we can learn from the experience of Gulangyu Island and design the “Hong Kong Outlying Islands Stamp Collecting Challenge”, allowing tourists to visit each key island and collect special stamps such as Cheung Chau’s lucky buns and the Big Buddha on Lantau Island, to make island hopping more fun.
In order to develop island tourism, the Government’s first priority is to upgrade the infrastructure and improve outlying islands sea traffic to facilitate tourists’ visits. It should also assist commercial organizations in developing various tourism facilities on the outlying islands, make good use of technologies, promote smart tourism and optimize the website booking systems. Through removing policy barriers, community involvement and cooperation, and combining ecological conservation and cultural innovation, it can develop more in-depth thematic tourism itineraries to provide tourists with novel and diversified travel experiences, completely showing the charm of island tourism in Hong Kong.
Thank you, Deputy President.