OBSERVATION: Hong Kong’s tourism industry has been battered due to social unrest and might require new solutions for the future to attract more broad market segments.
SOLUTION: Re-imagine the future tourism for Hong Kong through the creation of a long-term vision, leveraging the city’s existing strengths, establishing new initiatives, and upgrading the city’s infrastructure.
Countless visitors have remarked that there is nowhere on earth that is quite like Hong Kong. One of the most-visited places on the planet, Hong Kong’s geographical location, unique history, culture, colonial past and amazing adaptability can be further leveraged to provide a wide range of tourism opportunities to attract broad market segments from across the world.
While Mainland Chinese visitors currently, and will likely continue to dominate Hong Kong’s tourism scene, catering to a single source market is often risky. Hong Kong’s past moniker as a “shopping paradise” may have faded into the mists of time as the city grapples with how it should now reposition itself. Tourism destinations often need to reinvent themselves, especially after periods of poor performance, and Hong Kong is no exception.
Architect and hospitality consultant Thomas Schmidt, AIA of Sepia Design Consultants Limited ponders a few initiatives that might diversify tourism and reposition Hong Kong over the years to come:
TOURISM IDEAS – FOOD & FUNCTIONS:
the HARBOURFRONT:
The most glaring missed tourism opportunity in Hong Kong remains the under-utilization of the frontage of Victoria Harbour. Both the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon waterfronts faces similar issues of fragmentation, difficult public access, and under-utilization.
- Redevelopment Plan: Could a comprehensive redevelopment plan and the creation of a new waterfront promenade along the north coast of Hong Kong island have a seismic effect on tourism? Any redevelopment of these areas needs to be holistic and include provisions for food and beverage, activities, events, and recreation.
- Flexibility in Use: Could sections of the harbourfront have flexibility in use — whether military or commercial — yet allow public access during the majority of the time?
- Commission: Could the existing Harbourfront Commission be further empowered by the Government to be a key driver and decision maker in the redevelopment of this precious asset to stimulate tourism?
food& BEVERAGE OUTLETS:
Hong Kong has arguably one of the best “food scenes” on the planet with countless outlets — ranging from the humble Dai Pai Dong to Michelin-starred restaurants — and outstanding local cuisine which could be further leveraged relative to tourism. Yet, Hong Kongers and others throughout the region regularly flock to Taiwan and Japan for food-based holidays.
- Consumer Confidence: Could Hong Kong better compete with other international cities through new food hygiene rating schemes?
- Food Districts: Could the creation of new “food districts” and other promotional activities further bolster visitor confidence and encourage food-based holidays in Hong Kong?
- Alfresco Dining: Could antiquated Government regulations be amended to provide more flexibility in back of house size / supporting facility requirements in order to offer and encourage year-round alfresco dining throughout the city?
- F&B Loyalty Cards: Could there be a new stored-value loyalty cards, similar to the Octopus, that could provide visitors with discounts across each of the city’s F&B outlets, and provides points for redemption at select airport retail outlets?
LOCAL BEVERAGES:
Hong Kong’s Craft Beer scene has increased greatly over the past decade and could still yet see exponential growth matching global trends.
- Local Brewers: Could aspiring and existing local brewers be incentivized or funded to increase product diversity across the city?
- Rice Wine: Could there be new spins on other local traditional alcoholic beverages, including rice wine, that might result in unique beverages to entice visitors to the city?
- Tea-based beverages: Taiwan and Macao have famed milk-tea beverages which draws visitors, could Hong Kong develop its own unique new tea-based beverages to provide a point of differentiation?
- Festivals: Could Craft Beer festivals and conferences become a new international tourism driver with the Government encouraging new events to supplement the existing various independent events?
FUNCTIONS:
Hong Kong’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) industry has taken a beating due to recent widespread cancellations, coupled with a more consistent problem of a lack of exhibition areas throughout the territory. The Hong Kong Convention Centre and SkyCity near Hong Kong International Airport are two of the larger venues catering to large-scale events, but how might these venues be supplemented?
- Kai Tak: Could new accessible conference facilities and transport links be provided at Kai Tak for medium to large-scale events? If so, could these be located within walking distance of the new Kai Tak and Kwa Wan MTR stations? Location of such facilities at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal with intermittent monorail access might result in more challenging access issues.
- Cyberport: Could the flailing Cyberport be provided with a new MTR stop and waterfront access, and be selectively renovated to become a new destination for smaller scale conferences?
- Floating Venues: Could large sand barges be retrofitted with large clear-span structures that provide large “Ballrooms on the Water” for indoor events? These could be moored to select protected edges of the harbour during calm weather for special waterfront events, and provide unparalleled views of the skyline. Is the idea really that far-fetched?
NIGHTLIFE:
Hong Kong’s nightlife is legendary and could be further leveraged and promoted. Sadly, a large percentage of clubs and pubs end up going out of business due to unaffordable rents, despite their popularity.
- Rent Flexibility: Could landlords provide more business-friendly strategies for struggling bar owners to receive rent reductions in excessively-priced entertainment districts such as Lan Kwai Fong to minimize the current “revolving door” of pubs that stay in business for just a few short months, are forcibly gutted for the next tenant to come in and fit out, and just adds to Hong Kong’s landfill woes?
- Marketing Alliances: Could new marketing alliances between independent restaurants and bars be created that provide loyalty cards and reward schemes across a large number of outlets? Could there be a Hong Kong Beer Challenge where patrons collect a number of stamps on a card across a number of bars across town and compete for awards?
- Like Hong Kong’s nightlife, the possibilities are endless …
While the above ideas are by no means an exhaustive listing, it is hoped they will provide food for thought as to how Hong Kong might reinvent itself relative to future tourism.