Hong Kong Financial Secretary Henry Tang said on Wednesday that the Individual Visit Scheme has extended to 38 Chinese mainland cities and attracted nearly 200 million visitors.

He said Hong Kong is making a bid to extend the scheme to six other provincial cities in the Pan-Pearl River Delta region.

Hong Kong's tourism industry in 2005 put in an impressive performance. Total visitor arrivals reached a new high of over 23 million, and tourism receipts exceeded HKD100 billion (US$12.9 billion), he said.

He said Hong Kong had made very good progress in achieving a balanced market portfolio and the Chinese mainland remains Hong Kong's biggest source market.

As Hong Kong's tourism industry expands, it will stimulate growth in related sectors, create a strong demand for manpower and provide many in our workforce with jobs which are much-needed due to economic restructuring.

Hong Kong targeted two particular groups with tremendous potential: family and business travelers. The Hong Kong Tourism Board has designated 2006 as "Discover Hong Kong Year" in an effort to attract these two groups to stay longer and spend more in Hong Kong. Last September saw the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, and Hong Kong continued to implement our strategy by developing diversified tourist facilities.

He said as its continued efforts to develop tourist facilities, Hong Kong is preparing for the opening of Ngong Ping 360 (comprising Ngong Ping Skyrail and Village) as well as the Hong Kong Wetland Park.

Tang pledged to give full support to the redevelopment of Ocean Park, and to ensure a start to the project could be made as scheduled this year. This 5.5 billion HK dollars (US$709.6 million) project, while retaining the educational mission of the Park, will give this much-loved facility a completely new face.

He said Hong Kong plans to carry out a number of improvement projects to ensure that selected places of interest remain attractive. The Sun Yat-sen Museum, which will be completed in early 2007, will be a good place for visitors to appreciate Hong Kong's heritage.

He promised that the government would continue to invest in tourism infrastructure and promote hospitality culture. These will be instrumental in facilitating the growth of our tourism industry and creating more employment opportunities.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2006)