Most economic experts may agree that Hong Kong's tourism, which gives a strong push to other industries, now has become the main factor to drive the economy though it only accounts for 7 percent of the local output.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government made the policy of promoting economy through the development of tourism a strategy to overcome its economic hardships in the past few years. And it will remain one of Hong Kong's important economic pillars in the future.

The government said in its 2005-2006 budget that tourism is an important sector of economy, which raises Hong Kong's international profile and greatly benefits various aspects of local economic and cultural development.

It is estimated that during the period from 2000 to 2003 alone, tourism has created around 25,000 new jobs in Hong Kong, despite of the influence of SARS in 2003. Tourism industry performed strongly last year, with visitor arrivals reaching an all-time high of 21.8 million and the number is expected to exceed 23 million this year.

So far, the government has already invested around 31 billion Hong Kong dollars to build a series of new attractions, including Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong Wetland Park, Tung Chung cable car system and the second phase of Symphony of lights. And the Hong Kong Tourism Board launched a series of global publicity and promotion programs this year, including designating 2006 as "Discover Hong Kong Year".

Sept. 12 is definitely a day that most Hong Kong people are looking forward to because Hong Kong Disneyland will formally open to visitors on that day and become the main spot for tourists not only from mainland China but also from overseas. Experts expected the theme park, which cost 3.5 billion US dollars, would create 18,000 new jobs at opening and brought in a revenue of 148 billion Hong Kong dollars for the city within the following 40 years.

The Tung Chung cable car system and the Wetland Park with a total cost of 14.7 billion Hong Kong dollars will be accomplished in 2006. Besides, the government has decided to develop green tourism in the Northern New Territories, so that Hong Kong citizens may enjoy the natural beauty of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government hopes with the development of new infrastructures and projects, the city can be transferred into a travel destination with more choices to meet the tastes of tourists.

In parallel, a number of new hotels will open by the end of 2006 to meet the surge of tourist arrivals. The new hotels will provide about 14,000 rooms and 75,000 jobs. According to the international property advisor Tie Leung Ltd, the opening of Disneyland in September will draw more tourists to Hong Kong from mainland and overseas, therefore hotel occupancy rates and average room rates will continue to rise despite of the room increases.

To Hong Kong tourism, tourists from the mainland are still the main force, a point that can be seen through the growing popularity of mandarin in service industry.

According to statistics, the number of mainland tourists to Hong Kong increased by 44 percent in 2004 and their spending in Hong Kong accounted for 12 percent of the total value of retail. The increase of mainland tourists not only created new jobs for Hong Kong but also stimulated the local consumption.

The Secretariat of the Better Hong Kong Foundation George Yuen said,"One of the important factor in promoting Hong Kong economy is tourism. Large number of mainland tourists is helpful in pushing the domestic demand of Hong Kong. Inflation ended and the price index keeps going up since July 2004."

The HKSAR government expected the local GDP this year would increase by 4.5 percent. The Hang Seng index recorded a 22 percent increase in the past 12 months. And the jobless rate went down from 8.7 percent to 5.9 percent during the last two years.

An analyst of Standard Charted Bank (Hong Kong) Ltd said, "The rise of price index in last July was mainly due to the increase of mainland visitors added by the going down of jobless rate and the flourishing of the property industry. Now the confidence of the market has recovered."

Economic experts in Hong Kong now believe the rise of price index, the rebound of retail and property industries are the stimulus to the domestic demand. Individual spending continued to increase, which has reduced the local economy's dependence on export.

Franklin lin, property analyst of Swiss Bank said, "Starting from January of 2004, the average price for property in Hong Kong keeps stable at 4680 US dollars per square meter, increasing by more than 15 percent within less than 18 months, though it is sill lower than that of 1997." 

(Xinhua News Agency July 2, 2005)