China: Hong Kong wants "quality tourists" from mainland flood

People Power is proposing an entry tax of HK$100 on visitors arriving by land to attract "quality tourists" willing to spend and counter a projected surge in mainland travelers in the next few years.

But government officials and tourism insiders panned the move, which analysts said takes chance of a surge in localist sentiment against mainlanders.

Lawmakers Albert Chan Wai-yip and Raymond Chan Chi-chuen proposed the tax be included in Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah's budget.

They said official estimates project visitors increasing to 70 million a year by 2017 and 100 million by 2023, which would be disastrous for Hong Kong. But the tax would cut the number of mainland visitors by 10 million, they said.

"We expect mainland visitors who do not remain overnight would be reduced but it won't affect the tourism industry," Albert Chan said.

He said the entry tax would as well help suppress parallel import activities.

Ray Chan said there were additional than 20 million visitors who did not remain overnight last year, and this did not help boost the economy.

"An entry tax may help attract higher quality tourists," he said.

James Sung Lap-kung, a political analyst at City University, said the proposition will likely fail to gain support even from other pan-democrats but the pair are pushing it to ride on sentiments against mainlanders.

The proposition was fiercely criticized by Joseph Tung Yiu-chung, executive director of the Travel Industry Council, who said Hong K
ong would become the initial in the world to collect such a tax.

"Its implementation would greatly affect Hong Kong's image," Tung said.

Executive Council member and former secretary for security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee said the government had before studied an exit tax and it was concluded it would not be feasible.

"Checkpoints involve a substantial number of visitors," she said. "It would be difficult to collect tax inclunding to differentiate who are the parallel importers or those who travel daily to Hong Kong for work, which was why the government abandoned such ideas."

Allan Zeman, chairman of tourist attraction Ocean Park, as well opposed the proposition and said the government should instead boost infrastructure and facilities.