HTM 4105 Contemporary Tourism Issues

Topic: TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE TOURISM – KEY PROBLEMS AND ISSUES FACING HONG KONG

Introduction
Unquestionably, Hong Kong is a blessed land where possesses prosperity and most of the elements of being a world class cosmopolitan which has successfully attracted visitors over years, especially from the mainland by emphasising our world-class shopping, dining and other urban attractions (Lam, H., 2004). Despite the flourishing scene of the tourism industry, the volatile tourist markets and growing competition from Southeast Asian countries and neighbouring destinations have posed new challenges to Hong Kong’s tourism industry.

In order to strengthen Hong Kong’s position as a preferable Asian tourist …show more content…

The carrying capacity of the green attractions should be carefully studied and controlled by imposing strict regulations on the visitor numbers and their behaviours. Besides, due to the rising demand, eco-guides’ demand is stretching, thus setting legal standards for eco-guides as well as providing training for nurturing the expertise are in urgent needs to cope with the stretched demand as well as to educate the appropriate behaviours in the ecologist attractions (Chong, 2007).

Cultural Sustainability
Due to the diversification in Hong Kong’s culture which is positioned as East-meet-West, Hong Kong has been recently facing the demands of constructing an identity reflected in choices about what heritage to conserve and how to present it (Henderson, 2002). With the current trend of globalization and mass movement of people, issues of cultural identity and cultural preservation continue to be explored. Recently, Hong Kong has been keen on developing attractions to enhance Hong Kong’s cultural image, one of the fine examples is the proposed cultural venues, the West Kowloon Cultural District. Besides building new cultural venues, preserving and promoting Hong Kong’s tangible and intangible heritage are accounted as other measures to showcase Hong Kong’s mixed culture. Examples like preservation and development of the former Marine Police Headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui into a tourism facility by the private sector, “1881 Heritage”, and HKTB’s promotion of