Abolish the Travel Agents Registry:

1. Since the Registry's establishment in 1985, HK's tourism industry has witnessed significant changes. In 1988 the Government first appointed TIC as the industry's self-regulatory body and TIC inherited most of the Registry's roles. In 1999 the Tourism Commission was founded to fulfill the regulatory duties. The Registry deserves credit for laying the groundwork for the development of HK's tourism, but it had performed its historic functions and it is time to move on.
2. The abolishment of the Registry can save travel agents $5,820 a year and furthermore millions of annual expenditure for the Government. It will be a win-win situation for both the industry and tax-payers.
3. TIC can complete the take-over from the Registry by appointing an independent task force or accredited auditors each year to verify the financial status of travel agents. Cost will be saved and operation will be streamlined.

Abolish the Hong Kong Tourism Board:

1. Founded in 1957, HKTA was renamed HKTB in 2001. It's annual budget reaches $700 millions, a mammoth cost for what it actually achieves.
2. According to the "Hong Kong Tourism Board Ordinance", HKTB's main objectives are to promote HK as a tourism destination around the world; to enhance the improvement of tourism facilities; and to provide support to those who visit HK. However, each of the 3 objectives can be achieved in a more cost-effective way:
   1. HKTB now has a worldwide network of 15 foreign offices and 5 representatives, with 327 staff on its payroll (as of 31 Mar 2007). On the other hand, the Trade Development Council operates 40 global offices, 17 of them are in the same city where a HKTB office can be found. By a slight expansion of its function, the TDC can take over from the HKTB and save tax-payers millions of dollars. As a matter of fact, many foreign governments operate a "trade and tourism promotion" office. Obviously those governments know how to effectively allocate their resources.;
   2. The enhancement of tourism facilities, such as building a cruise terminal, improving theme parks or other attractions etc., can be spearheaded by the Tourism Commission. Since its establishment, the Commission has been actively involved in the territory's tourism planning and improvement, while HKTB has been nothing but an administrative tautology and an embarrassment for the tourism industry;
   3. It can be TIC's job to provide support for inbound travelers. In cases such as the "Tatami Hampton Incident", TIC undoubtedly should have been able to help the affected tourists. It was the existence of HKTB that allowed TIC to look for others to take the initiative, to wait for solutions to come up while denying its own responsibilities. Ironically, one might expect tourists to be better taken care of once the HKTB is abolished.
3. Once abolished, HKTB's current staff and offices can gradually integrate with those of the TDC, the Tourism Commission and the TIC. The 700-million budget saved can be directed towards sponsoring large-scale international promotional events such as the HK International Dragon Boat Regatta.
4. The fundings saved upon the abolishment of the Tourism Commission can be applied towards helping the industry itself (such as hotels, travel agents and airlines) to promote HK's tourism overseas. It is a proven fact that the industry itself is far more effective in this than government officials.
5. Even the Government is of the opinion that HKTB is something of a burden. A complete re-organization is required. Such overhaul will only free the industry from its current stalemate and to embrace a better future.

Lower the Levy rate from 0.3% to 0.2%:

1. Over the years, the Travel Industry Compensation Fund has accumulated over 500-million dollars. Yet under the increasingly tight grip of the TIC, further accumulation of the fund has become meaningless for the industry. It will be beneficial for the agents if the levy rate is lowered. The saved cost can easily be translated into better business opportunities for the industry.
2. Part of the 0.2% levy, i.e. 0.15%, can be allocated for TIC's running cost, while the remaining 0.05% can be used for funding of Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Expand Travel Industry Compensation Fund coverage:

1. In a series of recent travel agent closures, air-ticket consumers were affected the most, and the trend is worsening. In fact, during last Christmas an unlicensed member of TIC was found selling air tickets to travelers. The industry will face a severe backlash from the public for ignoring consumer rights if it still chooses not to expand the compensation coverage.
2. Since the introduction of "E-tickets", travelers now receive nothing but a piece of paper for their air ticket purchase and are often left ill-protected. In the unfortunate case of agent closure, airlines can cancel the bookings whenever they want, an unthinkable treatment for travelers in the past.
3. Entering this year, E-ticket is expected to be adopted by almost the entire airline industry. Numerous consumers will be exposed to unprecedented risks if the Government continues its "non-intervention" policy. Therefore the Government must act now and expand the insurance coverage to air ticket purchases.
4. For effective regulation, it is suggested that each ticket purchase through travel agents should contribute HK$1 to the fund. Paper stamps, an intermediate arrangement before the full introduction of "E-stamp", can be bought by agents from the TIC and pasted onto receipts. The proceeds will be allocated to the Travel Industry Compensation Fund to protect air ticket consumers.

Call for the Government and airlines to pay commissions to travel agents for collecting airport tax, security charge and fuel sur-charge:

1. Facing a huge spike in oil prices, most airlines introduce fuel sur-charges to improve their revenue. Yet travel agents are the ones to collect the charges without any remuneration, same as in the cases of airport tax and security tax. This unfair practice must be changed.
2. Though it is in TIC's regulation that agents can charge a minimum 30-dollar handling fee, most agents have encountered difficulties and frustrations due to clients' reluctance to pay. To help the agents, the TIC should take the initiative to facilitate agents to charging commissions from the Government and airlines for colleting airport tax, security tax and fuel sur-charge.
3. An airline has recently reduced its commission rate to agents from 7% to 5%. TIC should immediately adopt a tough stance and fight on behalf of the industry to stop this trend. Otherwise individual agents with no bargaining chips against airlines will undoubtedly suffer from a worsened business environment.

Abolish air passenger departure tax:

1. HK's air passenger departure tax is one of the highest in the world. Many travelers have complained about having to pay once, or even twice, when they enter Mainland China via HK. This heavy burden is why most tourists cut short or even cut out staying in the territory.
2. It is expected that the abolishment of air passenger departure tax will bring positive changes to the territory. HK will gain competitiveness as a travel destination, more travelers will stay longer, hotel industry will also benefit from improved occupancy rate.
3. According to the Civil Aviation Department, departure passengers reached 23,126,341 in 2007. A total of 2.7 billion dollars in tax was paid. Any loss of tax revenue can be offset by an increase in consumption from both tourists and locals who have extra money to spend, and the benefit of maintaining HK's position as a global attraction is priceless.

Return the wealth to the people:

1. The Bonding Fund was set up 20 years ago to provide necessary protection to outbound travelers. It was funded by agents upon joining the TIC, each paying a $2,000 fee.
2. Over the decades, the Bonding Fund has accumulated over 10-million dollars. Since outbound travelers are now protected by the Travel Industry Compensation Fund the Bonding Fund has been now rarely used. Therefore the TIC should return part about 7 millions of the reserve to its 8 Association Members and all agent members.
3. Each Association Member is expected to receive $500,000, 4 millions in total; while each agent member can get back its $2,000 fee (3 millions in total). Though it is hardly a fortune for the members, it will indeed send a positive signal to the industry that the TIC is willing to help members in face of difficult financial situation.

Clarify the definitions and conditions in "hotel" and "guesthouse" licensing system:

1. The "Tatami Hampton Incident" clearly exposed the existing loopholes in the "guesthouse" licensing system. The hotel industry had strongly urged the Government to better define the definitions and conditions in "hotel" and "guesthouse" licensing consideration.
2. Currently, be it budget guesthouses for tourists on a shoe-string budget, or island-situated holiday accommodations for rent, or 5-star hotels, all are licensed by the same system. It is clearly an unreasonable and impractical procedure.
3. The Government should start consulting with the hotel industry to clarify how "hotel" and "guesthouse" should be defined and regulated, to stop events such as the "Tatami Hampton Incident" from happening again.

Limit travel agent licence:

1. As of 17 July 08, there are 1,481 travel agents and counting. Given HK's tiny area, the number is astounding. This must be one of the causes for the industry's current dilemma. When you have too many people fighting for a limited market, industry standard will deteriorate, vicious competition will occur, and business environment will become miserable.
2. To curb this trend, the TIC should for the time being set a ceiling for agent licence number, say at 1,500, so those already in the business won't be driven out, and they will be protected from future new-comers. In the meantime, the TIC should publicise on a monthly basis the latest travel agent number to let interested parties know whether vacancies are available.
3. With the number of competitors stabilised, the business environment will improve, vicious competition will subside and agent quality will improve. The consumers will eventually benefit from this positive change.
4. The industry must seize the opportunity now and limit the number of agents.