Page 3 - 152 Varsity Ebook

Bon Voyage?

rowned as “Pearl of the Ori- tourism. The city has long been con- number of tourists and nuisances
ent” and “Asia’s World City”, sidered as a shopping paradise, but caused to residents in some districts.
CHong Kong has been a pop- industry insiders say Hong Kong has We have reached out to residents in
ular tourist destination. Tourism is a more to offer especially country parks Tung Chung, To Kwa Wan and Choi
major driving force of the local econ- and cultural heritage which can help Hung to find out how their daily life
omy, accounting for nearly 5 per cent the city win over other tourist desti- activities are affected.
of the city’s GDP every year. Last year, nations. We have talked to tour oper- In this issue, we have also looked
tourist arrivals reached a record high ators who take visitors to green and into why some college graduates pur-
of 65.1 million. However, the local cultural attractions. sue blue-collar jobs. We have explored
tourism industry faces an uncertain There are also ongoing calls for im- whether the opening of the Xiqu Cen-
outlook in 2019. The Hong Kong provements in Hong Kong’s customer tre can rejuvenate Cantonese opera,
Tourism Board (HKTB) expects a service quality. Hong Kong ranks the and we have done a profile on a volun-
bumpy ride for the sector due to eco- fourth lowest in the 2019 Smiling Re- teer who has saved thousands of cats.
nomic uncertainties brought by the port, which was compiled based on Enjoy the read!
Sino-US trade disputes and slower assessments of mystery shoppers in
growth in China’s economy. Offi- 29 countries and regions. We have
cials also say visitors are more likely spoken to inbound tourists who had
to spend less and stay fewer days in unpleasant experience in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong. We also talked to workers in service
In this issue of Varsity, we try to industries to understand what diffi-
look into the challenges faced by the culties the trade is facing.
tourism industry in recent years from Meanwhile, the influx of tourists,
three different perspectives. particularly those from the Mainland,
We start by exploring ways to en- also leads to questions about Hong Iris Yeung
hance the diversity of Hong Kong Kong’s capacity of handling large Managing Editor

Varsity Magazine, Issue 152, May 2019

Editorial Office School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, N. T., Hong Kong.
Contacts Telephone: 3943 7680 Fax: 2603 5007 Email: varsity@cuhk.edu.hk
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