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 – MARINE RECREATION:
Hong Kong has 263 islands within its territory and extensive amounts of coastline to allow access to marine recreation activities. Could Hong Kong’s existing water activities be further enhanced to put more focus on water sports for tourists?
NON-MOTORIZED water sports:
Hong Kong’s tradition of Dragonboating is well recognized around the world, and a wide range of human-powered water sports are currently available at many locations.
- New Facilities: Could new facilities be constructed to encourage more opportunities for sailing, sea kayaking, paddleboarding, canoeing, and other human-propelled marine sports — which might spur new international water sports competitions to increase visitor arrivals?
- Regattas: Could new large scale international sailing regattas be held in Hong Kong?
- Wind Sports: Could kitesurfing and windsurfing be encouraged in certain windy locations, coupled with affordable beachfront accommodation?
- Sculling: Could there be new sculling areas within protected waterways that could facilitate new international rowing competitions?
- Dragonboating: While firmly entrenched in many local residents’ lifestyles, could Dragonboating become more accessible to transient tourists with limited time in Hong Kong?
MOTORIZED WATER SPORTS:
Various speedboats and motorized watercraft provide opportunities for paragliding, wakeboarding, and water skiing, among other adrenaline-producing activities.
- Jet Skis: Could jetski parks be created with challenging obstacle courses for international competitions?
- Flyboarding: Could “flyboarding”, using waterjet boots strapped to one’s feet, be better promoted as a unique visitor experience?
- Master Plan: Could a new marine master plan establish use zones to adequately separate conflicting non-motorized and motorized activities?
yachting:
Hong Kong is a popular stopover for yachties sailing throughout the Pacific; however, there are only 8 marinas and yacht clubs capable of mooring large yachts and providing support services. Despite having over 10,000 registered leisure boats in Hong Kong, there are only half as many moorings and dry berths available.
- Marina Construction: Could the creation of new marinas and yacht clubs help position Hong Kong as Asia-Pacific’s premiere yachting center?
- Liveaboards: Relative to the city’s housing woes, could existing laws be amended to allow for the establishment of new yachting communities and legalization of liveaboard boats for residents and long-stay visitors? It works in Sausalito, California, USA and countless other cities around the world — why couldn’t it also work here?
- Bespoke Tours: Could there be ultra-luxury yachts provided for multi-day catered bespoke experiences that might be linked with some of Hong Kong’s top luxury hotels?
- Typhoon Shelters: Could some of the city’s under-used typhoon shelters be converted into public marinas?
- Image: Can the yachting industry in Hong Kong shake off its elitist image by being more accessible to the public and tourists?
- Cargo Basins: If Hong Kong is in fact losing its status as a major ocean cargo handling center, could some of these cargo areas be redeveloped into recreational boating areas? Would this also have a positive impact on Hong Kong’s water quality?
DIVING:
Despite the dubious water quality surrounding Hong Kong, the resilience of marine ecosystems and the emergence of remarkable nearby diving opportunities have surprised local divers and marinebiologists. There are currently only a handful of protected marine parks, which result in an uphill battle relative to increasing biodiversity.
- Master Plan: Could diving and marine conservation efforts be increased through the formulation of a new Marine Tourism Master Plan prescribing specific-use areas throughout Hong Kong’s waters?
- Marine Parks: Could the establishment of new additional protected marine conservation parks further increase marine biodiversity to facilitate diving and snorkeling?
- Wreck Dives: Despite visibility issues, are there wartime shipwrecks in Hong Kong’s waters that could be better marketed for technical wreck diving?
- Dive Center: Could a new resort development at Guishan Island provide a center for diving and snorkeling excursions throughout the Pearl River Delta?
JUNKS & TOURS:
A local favorite in summer months, Junks provide unforgettable tours and recreational opportunities for residents and visitors to Hong Kong.
- Water Tour Centers: Could new dedicated water tour centers be provided along the edges of Victoria Harbour catering to visitors, which are easily accessible via a new harbourfront pedestrian promenade?
- Island Hopping: Could new island-hopping tours be provided to some of the hundreds of accessible islands throughout Hong Kong, supported by appropriate amounts of affordable accommodation on outlying islands? Could a visitor extend their urban city experience by spending a week hopping between different islands, not unlike the Greek Islands?
- Booze Cruise: Could new nightly booze cruises offer an over-water alternative to Hong Kong’s land-based bar scene? Could these be affiliated with existing pubs and clubs and extend their brand? Could such cruises actually provide decent local craft beer instead of mass-produced watery brands?
CRUISES:
Open since 2013, Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Cruise Terminal is often criticized for its under-use, poor connectivity to public transport, and insufficient retail and food & beverage options — some have even labelled the complex as a “white elephant.” Arriving passengers frequently complain of being stranded at the terminal upon arrival due to serious public transportation issues, which provides a negative perception of the city as a tourism destination. New MTR stations to the west of the terminal may help alleviate some of these issues.
- New MTR: Will access and the performance of this prime waterfront area be enhanced through the proposed new monorail to the existing Kwun Tong MTR and new Kai Tak MTR stations, both of which are located almost 2-3 km away?
- Ferry Access: Could a new cross-harbour ferry terminal and water taxis provide easy access to this area from both Tsim Sha Tsui and points along Hong Kong Island to provide access to both arriving cruise passengers, as well as Hong Kong residents to visit this largely passenger-only facility?
- Future Markets: Could an increase in cruise arrivals also allow Hong Kong to become a more popular cruising destination in the process?
- Boating Center: Could the Kwun Tong Typhoon Shelter on the north side of the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal be transformed into a water sports and boating center?
- New Cruise Ship Stop: In addition to the facilities at Kai Tak, could a new resort development at Guishan Island provide another stopover for the Asian cruise industry?
HONG KONG GEOPARK
The geological wonders of Hong Kong’s northeastern ocean areas could be considered one of the territory’s hidden gems. The UNESCO-listed Hong Kong Global Geopark of China covers an area of 50 sq km, with many features formed by volcanic activity over 140 million years ago.
- Tours: Could environmentally-sensitive tours and transportation to these areas be increased and better promoted to bolster ecotourism activities within Hong Kong?
- Ferry: Sai Kung typically serves as a jumping-off point for exploring the Geopark, but tourists often cannot even access Sai Kung along its constantly congested roads. Could a new ferry service to Sai Kung be provided to benefit local residents as well as facilitate tourist access?
- School Trips: Could the Government subsidize local and regional educational school trips to this geological paradise as part of the STEAM curriculum and attract international student field trips?
- Science Tours: Apart from sporadic guided outings by the Royal Geographical Society Hong Kong and other special interest groups, could scientific educational tours be provided for tourists visiting the territory?
- Kayaking: Could there be more day and nighttime kayaking in and around the Geopark?
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.