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The Government issued a consultation paper on the review of the operation and regulatory framework of Hong Kong's tourism sector on April 29 to invite views from the trade and the public. The consultation closes today (July 15).
A spokesman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said, "During the consultation period, we publicised the consultation paper and gathered views through different channels and forums.
"We have attended Legislative Council Panel on Economic Development meeting to listen to the views of legislators and representatives from different sectors; we have also attended seminars organised by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to listen to the views of the trade. In addition, we have briefed the Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen of 18 District Councils about the consultation paper, and organised seminars through the Travel Agents Registry. We have also met trade members, front-line practitioners and other stakeholders several times."
As at 5pm today, we had received over 1,200 submissions, of which some 1,100 are derived from six versions of letters with the same content, and 13 submissions were referred by the Legislative Council Panel on Economic Development. It is expected that we will continue to receive more submissions in the coming days and the actual number will be confirmed later.
"We will collate and analyse in detail all the views collected during the consultation period and consider carefully concerns and rationales raised by different parties to facilitate the formulation of reform proposals which are effective, practicable and able to sustain healthy development of our tourism sector. The proposal will be announced in the fourth quarter this year as planned," the spokesman said.
Ends/Friday, July 15, 2011
Issued at HKT 22:00
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