2023-09-16 00:00:28
The government launched the “Hong Kong Night Fun” tourism campaign, using subsidies and price reductions to attract customers. In fact, can it have any effect in the short term? What kind of guests are you inviting? Will these guests come once and never come back again? Some people in the tourism industry say that the local market and the tourism market should be separated, but this statement is actually outdated and wrong, because the competition currently facing Hong Kong is between cities, and there is no local or tourist. passengers).
According to the tourism industry figures recently released by the Japan National Tourism Administration, the number of foreign tourists arriving in Japan in June this year reached 2.0733 million. Among them, tourists from Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States surged sharply, especially in Southeast Asia. The number of tourists from Singapore, the Philippines, and Vietnam increased by 120%. %. If a tourist has visited Japan once, he will definitely go again. Going to Japan is not a one night stand visit.
Visiting Japan has become a long-term habit for tourists. Why can’t Hong Kong do this?
Visiting Japan has become a long-term habit for tourists because Japan has a comprehensive set of urban planning, culture and cultural tourism development, and the entire society has an open attitude. Japan is not a “real estate-led” society where luxury homes, land prices and high rents are high. It is a “industrial technology-led” and “industry-led” society, and real estate plays a supporting role. So the Japanese have a different type of industrial economy. Especially after the real estate bubble economy burst in the 1990s, the Japanese were more willing to spend time and energy investing in and building different commercial and cultural spaces and investing in cultural and creative projects. Looking back at Hong Kong, Hong Kong basically only invests in large-scale transportation infrastructure, but lacks cultural infrastructure space and tourism infrastructure. Tokyo has more than a thousand cultural and creative performing arts venues. Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District is out of shape, with only four venues built in fifteen years.
The “Hong Kong Night Out” announced by the Financial Secretary can be said to be an event that “the government feels so good and citizens feel so nothing”. The announced contents include performances, cultural and creative activities, food stalls, fire dragon dances, drone performances, fireworks displays, extended museum opening hours, broadcast of the English Premier League, etc., which cannot solve the problem at all. You can stay at home and watch the Premier League, so why go to the mall to watch it? Citizens pass by shopping malls every day. What features of shopping malls attract customers? There are no distinctive bars. If you go to Tokyo and take a look, there are jazz bars on the side streets, small bars with special decorations, karaoke, dancing clubs, and even social dancing, but Hong Kong is basically a blank slate.
There are several central monuments preserved by the government: Tai Kwun, PMQ, Central Market, etc. Tai Kwun is basically a high-consumption place, and you can’t pay for a meal without a thousand dollars. If you go to Tokyo, there are many choices, ranging from the cheapest, medium price, high price, to super high price, all of which can meet the requirements of diners. Therefore, tourists to Japan are not only high-spending types, but also low- and medium-spending types, backpackers, tour groups, families, and so on.
Some people go hiking in Japan and like the tranquility and environment. Hong Kong actually has conditions for mountain travel, with many country parks and campsites. If it is feasible to promote rural camping experience, some B&Bs can be built on MacLehose Trail, Wilson Trail and Phoenix Trail. However, due to the policy issues of the Hong Kong government, it is simply impossible to deal with the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and various regulations. There is also the Fire Department, whose purpose is to create more levels and problems so that nothing can be done. The Home Affairs and Youth Affairs Bureau is responsible for licensing hotels, why is it not the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau?
If policies don’t change, can Hong Kong really return to the international stage?
In fact, there are many strange examples in Hong Kong, such as food carts. Taobao costs about NT$20,000 to build one, but the government requires more than NT$1 million. This is because the government uses food factory regulations to regulate them. To comply with the regulations, the cost increases. A problem facing Hong Kong now is that government regulations are too backward. Some officials say that Hong Kong needs to be “ruled according to the law.” If this “law” is out of date, should it be revised? However, there seems to be no timetable for amending the legislation, and the policy will not change. So just like this night market event, only the government feels so good.
The launch ceremony of the “Hong Kong Night Fun” event alone was already very funny. It makes sense to have pairs of lions, but only one lion performed, and the color of that lion was white. Some people suspected that it was a “white lion” used for funerals. The night of the launching ceremony happened to be in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, Yu Lan. The last day of the festival has attracted heated discussions among citizens as it is unlucky. Although the Deputy Financial Secretary explained that the lion was a “fluorescent lion”, it caused unnecessary misunderstandings in the media. And it should be a dragon dance instead of a lion dance. However, the flying dragon logo of Hong Kong brands is also unlucky. Since the flying dragon logo was used in 2001, Hong Kong has been sinking. If the government does not deal with Hong Kong’s image problem, how can it rebrand Hong Kong? Will Hong Kong really return to the international stage?
Government officials often say that Hong Kong is back on the international stage! Of course, actor Tony Leung is really on the international stage. He just won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice International Film Festival; athlete He Shibei won a swimming medal at the Tokyo Olympics; fencer Zhang Jialang won the Olympic foil gold medal. Many Hong Kong people have gone global in different fields, but Hong Kong government officials certainly have not. Hong Kong government officials just like to feel so good. Nowadays, Hong Kong people feel more and more towards the government that they feel not so good or even feel so bad. Of course, everyone cherishes the current peaceful state, but in the long run, it will not do any good if the government’s feeling so good continues.
So how should night markets be promoted? The first is the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department must make some major reforms to improve the restaurant licensing system. Second, the government should choose a location in the West Kowloon Cultural District to carry out the project. Third, the government should review the current overall cultural and tourism space in Hong Kong. Under the current political regulations, how can the performing arts space be optimized? In fact, there are different types of art performances in Hong Kong every day. Why can’t it attract some mainland audiences to come to Hong Kong to watch the performances? Fourth, to encourage mainland tourists to stay overnight in Hong Kong, hotel charges should be lowered and more cheap hotel options should be provided to allow tourists to spend the night and generate consumption.
The biggest problem in Hong Kong now is that many tourists come once and never come back again. Many tourists come to Hong Kong not for tourism, but for other functions and purposes, such as visiting relatives, renewing insurance, seeking medical consultation, physical examination, etc. Can the current government’s method of promoting night markets really promote the development of night markets? Basically very doubtful. Because Hong Kong is currently facing an ecological problem, if the government only makes some superficial efforts to promote the night market and does not conduct long-term research on the night market ecology, officials will only attend the launching ceremony without properly studying the improvements that Hong Kong night markets need. For example, how the 18th district should cooperate is actually already a problem.
Therefore, the specific suggestions should be: the regional commissioners of each of the 18 districts should study the possibility of night markets in each district. Or the government could first select a district for pilot projects, such as developing some special night markets in Yau Tsim Mong District, Central and Western District, and Sham Shui Po District, and combine it with a complete strategy. Is it possible to build some temporary food stalls, arrange food truck night markets, etc. in Tsim Sha Tsui, such as near the Hong Kong Cultural Center? After the cultural center’s performances, the audience can go out to drink coffee and eat snacks. Multiple restaurant licenses have turned the promenade into a night market.
The same goes for the West Kowloon Cultural District. The cultural district is far away from residential areas and can be turned into a “big land”. Now the grassland in West Kowloon is basically just a place for pets. Moreover, consumption in West Kowloon is very expensive. The West Kowloon Cultural District should introduce some low-cost market projects and turn the entire West Kowloon grassland into a large Tai Da Tei Plaza, so as to create a Hong Kong characteristic. The problem in Hong Kong now is that the government likes high consumption and completely excludes low and medium consumption. This kind of lofty and far-sighted thinking is abnormal.
After launching Night Fun, what problems still need to be solved?
The government’s plan to run night markets this time is “better than nothing”, and feel good is better than feed bad. I hope that after officials feel good, they will really think about it, do some research, do some analysis, and implement some policies that can truly activate the night market. The night market activity announced by the government this time basically has no big effect, because it cannot change Hong Kong’s becoming a very dull and monotonous city. The neon lights are gone, and many spaces have been over-regulated by the government. How can a tube be resurrected after death? The government needs to tear down the walls and loosen the restrictions. Continuing to only organize activities and subsidize tourists to come to Hong Kong is just a one night stand and cannot create a truly competitive tourism city.
Although the opening hours of the museum have been extended, Hong Kong people have no habit of visiting museums at all. Even if foreign tourists come to the Hong Kong Museum, given the size of the exhibitions in the museum, will it be attractive for tourists to visit the museum? There are no distinctive dining options around the museum. On the contrary, extending the opening hours of the library can attract citizens to read books in the library. After reading, they may eat and drink nearby before going home. There may be an attraction for community night libraries.
A night market must have a “market”. Now we are just holding some activities that have nothing to do with the “market”. Can we really build a night market? A night market is a night market, such as Temple Street. The URA has not handled the development issues of Temple Street well at all, so it is very dilapidated. There is no plan for the temporary cooked food center set up by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, and no district mayor is really taking care of Temple Street. Temple Street certainly has great potential to become a specialty night market, but everyone remembers how Dong Bao Kitchen, which was frequented by many tourists, was kicked out of the Java Road Market in North Point by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department. If the FEHD can make some flexible arrangements in the 18 districts to allow restaurants to open later, some quality restaurants can create a gourmet atmosphere there.
If the government wants to resume night markets, it must review how to remove barriers and loosen restrictions on the licensing system for liquor, restaurant, and entertainment licenses, and how to reasonably release private creativity. Venue restaurants under the FEHD should extend their opening hours and use a more flexible model to create more restaurant spaces like Dongbao Kitchen that are attractive to tourists and locals.
The government should vigorously promote publicity in parks under the LCSD, district town halls and performance venues to attract more tourists from the Greater Bay Area to come to Hong Kong to watch performances. Hong Kong’s performances are attractive and ticket prices are reasonable. In addition, a night economy can also be created. How should the government promote it? How to create an international image? In this regard, the government can do some support and coordination work. Should the Bureau of Culture, Sports and Tourism be responsible for this work? Is the night market a “cultural tourism policy” or an “economic policy”? Or what kind of policy? Now the Financial Secretary is taking the lead in launching Hong Kong’s colorful night scene. After launching the colorful night scene, will the problem be solved? This is what deserves our attention and attention.
The author Hu Enwei is a member of the National Association for Hong Kong and Macao Studies, a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and a member of Zuni. Co-Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of Icosahedron. The article is solely the opinion of the author and does not represent the position of Hong Kong 01.
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