Following the first interdepartmental meeting held on August 23 to co-ordinate the preparation work for the arrival of visitors to Hong Kong during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau convened another meeting today (September 20) to follow up on the preparation work carried out by various departments, including crowd-control management of visitors, etc, said a Government spokesman. The meeting was chaired by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, with representatives from government departments including the Hong Kong Customs (Customs), the Hong Kong Police Force (Police), the Immigration Department (ImmD), the Transport Department, various District Offices, etc. Representatives from various tourism-related organisations including the Travel Industry Authority (TIA), the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, major tourist attractions, the hotel industry, etc, also attended. Relevant parties will continue to maintain close communication on the crowd control of visitors during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week with a view to preparing in advance and co-ordinating different aspects for receiving visitor arrivals to Hong Kong.
Mr Yeung said, "The HKSARG has been closely monitoring visitor arrivals during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week and will continue to maintain close liaison with various government departments, relevant organisations and the trade to properly manage visitor flows, so as to offer visitors with a good travel experience and a taste of Hong Kong's city charm of 'Tourism is everywhere in Hong Kong'."
During the Mainland's National Day Golden Week, relevant government departments will strengthen manpower as well as co-ordination of transport and cross-boundary services at various control points, including strengthening crowd management, increasing transport frequency, etc. If necessary, the Police will make appropriate traffic arrangements according to the actual circumstances, including arranging public transport to use the designated dedicated lane at San Sham Road to travel to Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port. In addition, the Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre set up by Customs, the Police, the ImmD and other departments will be activated during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week to monitor the situation at each land control point, as well as to maintain close liaison with Mainland counterparts and take contingency actions where necessary. The Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre of the Transport Department will operate 24 hours to monitor the traffic conditions of different districts, including various boundary control points and major stations, disseminate the latest traffic information through various channels and implement response measures where appropriate.
Various District Offices will closely monitor the flow of visitors within their corresponding districts during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week and strengthen management of the relevant spots having regard to the actual circumstances. Major tourist attractions will also put in place crowd control measures.
The TIA has been reminding travel agents receiving relevant Mainland inbound tour groups to stagger arrival times as far as possible and urge travel agents, shops, restaurants, etc, receiving Mainland inbound tour groups to implement appropriate measures for managing the order of visitors and coaches. The TIA will also deploy additional manpower during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week to conduct inspections in districts where relatively more registered shops for inbound tour groups are located, and offer assistance to visitors and tourist guides to protect the rights of inbound tour group visitors. In addition, Customs will step up inspections of shops serving visitors to combat unfair trade practices.
The Tourism Commission, together with representatives from various government departments and the TIA, visited Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier and the nearby piers offering Victoria Harbour tours earlier (September 9) to inspect enhancement arrangements of crowd control deployed by relevant parties, as well as visiting the Kowloon City District to inspect registered shops and catering premises for Mainland inbound tour groups to remind the relevant parties to better prepare for the co-ordination work for crowd management. In addition, the Tourism Commission has been maintaining liaison with Mainland tourism authorities and communicating with them on the arrival of Mainland visitors. It has provided the hotlines of the relevant local organisations to Mainland inbound group visitors via the Mainland tourism authorities.
At present, the ImmD will upload the daily arrival figures of each control point to its website (www.immd.gov.hk). In addition, visitors may check the estimated waiting time at each land boundary control point via the Immigration mobile application.
​During the Mainland's National Day Golden Week, in case of emergency, Mainland inbound tour group visitors, tour escorts accompanying the tour groups and local tourist guides may seek assistance from the TIA by calling its service hotline 3698 5900 (operating from 9am to 6pm from October 1 to 7). For enquiries or complaints, visitors may call the HKTB's hotline 2508 1234 (operating from 9am to 8pm from October 1 to 7) or the Consumer Council's hotline 2929 2222 (operating from 9am to 5.30pm from October 2 to 4 and on October 7).
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