Tourism in Pacific Asia: Hong Kong City

Executive Summary

Hong Kong city is a major tourist destination given the wide range of natural and
synthetic attractions. The main attraction sites include the Victoria Harbor, Ocean Park, Wetland
Park and Ngong Ping 360 cable car. The cruise terminals also attract large numbers of cruise
tourists. Hong Kong’s tourism infrastructure is highly developed and meets modern world class
standards. The total number of tourists visiting Hong Kong has increased tremendously over the
years due to the government’s commitment to invest in tourism infrastructure.

1.0 Introduction

Tourism plays a beneficial role in the economic growth of Hong Kong. There are several
sites in the city that are worth touring. The city is rich in shopping, dining and entertainment
attractions. It has a wealth of expertise in handling hotel guests, cruise passengers and conference
delegates to international standards. The tourism sector in Hong Kong has experienced rapid
growth leading to a large volume of over 61 Million arrivals in the past year (Lee et al., 2007).
Hong Kong’s wealthy and well-travelled resident population offers exciting opportunities for
travel firms while the city’s location within five hours of flight to destinations harboring over
50% the world’s total population acquires its reputation as a business travel and leisure
destination. Aside from improved tourism infrastructure, Hong Kong also plays hosts to major
conventions and Asian exhibitions thus increasing the number of visitor arrivals. The city boasts
of some of the world’s finest hotels, and there has been improved demand for accommodation at
high prices due to the rapid growth of business and leisure travel in Asia.

2.0 Findings

2.1 Physical and Human Geography

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Hong Kong is a city in Northeast Asia. It has a size of 1104 sq. Km, located on China’s South
Coast and consists of the Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, and the New Territories.
Kowloon and the New Territories are located on the Chinese mainland, separated from Hong
Kong Island by the narrow Victoria Harbor (Chen et al., 2013). The harbor is among the world’s
deepest natural harbors and plays a pivotal role in the city’s economic success. 1054sq. Km
consists of land while the remaining 50sq.km is inland water (Chen et al., 2013). The city has a
humid subtropical climate conducive to human settlement. Deep waters surround it, and
mountains on the north and south protect its vast harbors. The Hong Kong Island is a strategic
channel for sea traffic in Asia and the world due to its geographical location between the Taiwan
Straits, the South China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. Hong Kong is a densely populated
metropolis with an estimated population size of 7.32 million in 2015, which represents a 0.8%
increase from the previous year (Chen et al., 2013). The city’s population is measured regarding
Usual and mobile residents. The city has the world’s largest life expectancy levels with 86.9
years for female and 81.2 years for males. Below is a map of Hong Kong city.

2.2 Patterns of Tourism

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The tourism industry in Hong Kong contributes about 5% to the GDP and employs 269,
700 people that amount to 7.2% of the total employment (Lee et al., 2007). As shown in the
figure below, in 2014, visitor arrivals increased by 12 percent over 2013 to 60.8 million. In 2011,
the visitor arrivals grew by 16.4% over 2010 to record 41.92 million. The first half of 2015 saw
to a slower growth of 2.8 percent over the same period of 2014 in the number of tourists (Lee et
al., 2007). The Mainland was still the largest source market with 22.8 million entrances until
mid-2015, a rise of 4.7 percent over a year ago and representing around 78 percent of the total
number of tourists (Lee et al., 2007).

A chart showing a breakdown of 2014-2015 occupancy rates is shown below. By the end
of June 2015, the total number of rooms and hotels in Hong Kong was 73807 and 251
respectively. The average rate of occupancy stayed high and reached 90% and 85% in 2014 and
the first half of 2015 (Lau et al., 2006).

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The hotel accommodation tax was waived in July 2008 to enhance competitiveness and motivate
tourists to lengthen their stay (Lau et al., 2006).
2.3 Factors that have influenced Tourism
2.3.1 Infrastructure
Hong Kong has a superior modern infrastructure that meets the tourists’ needs thus
promoting tourism. It has advanced sea, land and air transport and impeccable communication
systems. The city’s electrified railway system is one of the most efficient in the world (Harrison
et al., 2015). The government has undertaken initiatives to promote hotel development to meet
the diversified needs of tourists. For example, some sites in different parts of Hong Kong are
labeled as “hotel only” sites and no other forms of business can be erected on them. There are
also tendencies to convert old industrial buildings and heritage constructions into hotels. The city
also has modern cruise terminals to enhance and promote cruise tourism and offers excellent
convention and exhibition facilities (Lau et al., 2014).
2.3.2 Appealing Natural Attractions.
Hong Kong offers a variety of both natural and synthetic attractions to its tourists such as
the Victoria Peak, which provides a view of the Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula, and the

2014First Quarter of 2015

82%
83%
84%
85%
86%
87%
88%
89%
90%
91%

Average Occupancy Rate

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magnificent harbor. It also boasts of the Ocean Park, which consists of an aqua city with Asia’s
largest aquarium, a rainforest that hosts more than 70 tropical animals and a thrilling mountain
(Weaver et al., 2010). The Hong Kong Disney Land is amongst the most popular and best-
themed resorts in Asia and is an epic tourist attraction. The Hong Kong Wetland Park is an eco-
tourism facility that hosts a broad range of wildlife animals. In addition to the attraction sights,
the Ngong Ping 360 cable car takes tourists on scenic rides above sea, land and connects other
famous attractions (Weaver et al., 2010).
2.3.3 Ease Of Accessibility & Standard Performance.
The government continuously enhances the accessibility of Hong Kong by allowing
citizens from some countries to visit the country without visas. The ease of accessibility helps to
motivate more tourists to visit the country. The city has an Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) that
allows residents of certain Mainland cities to visit as independent travelers without joining group
tours (Song et al., 2012). Hong Kong has regulations in place that monitor the standards of
performance of the travel agents and tour guides. To offer quality assurance to the visitors, the
Quality Tourism Services Scheme encourages and mobilizes the tourist accommodations and
restaurants to elevate their standards to world-class levels (Song et al., 2012).
2.4 Implications for the Future of Tourism
There are various concerns and opportunities facing tourism including:
2.4.1 Infrastructure
Hong Kong has invested too much in attraction centers to increase the number of tourists
but has performed dismally in the infrastructure necessary to deal with the massive tourist influx.
A growing number of smaller retail players are forced to close shop due to the increasing cost of

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stores in prime tourist areas. Hong Kong’s capacity to accommodate visitors is at its limit since
the city is too crowded and this poses adverse risks for the tourism industry in the future.
2.4.2 Global Experiences
The global experiences act as an opportunity for the Hong Kong’s tourism industry. The
skills can be useful to the city in assessing the positive and negative impacts of the tourism
boom. The skills would also help in evaluating the city’s vision for the development of tourism
while taking into consideration the welfare of local societies.

3.0 Conclusion

The tourism sector in Hong Kong and Pacific Asia has beneficial economic values and is
a major source of foreign exchange earnings. Therefore, it is necessary that research and
development are done continuously to assess the underlying opportunities and capitalize on them
while still addressing the major concerns to which the industry is exposed. Research and
development also help in providing awareness and ideas on how to handle such impending
concerns.

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