Hardship of the shop operators in Lei Yue Mun tourist area (2019/11/13) (Supplementary)

Hardship of the shop operators in Lei Yue Mun tourist area (2019/11/13) (Supplementary)

MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): President, I agree with Mr TSE that what we can do is very limited with regard to the difficulties currently faced by the tourism industry in Hong Kong, among which the most important task is to stop violence and curb disorder. If we fail to stop violence and curb disorder, we can only address the pressing needs in the short run even if the Government introduces more measures. Just now the Secretary mentioned in the main reply the diverse tourism appeal and unique experiences of LYM. In fact, we also see that in addition to the seafood village and the Jockey Club Lei Yue Mun Plus, Devil's Peak is also located at LYM where we can go hiking, visit the Tin Hau Temple which has a history of more than 200 years and the lighthouse built 50-odd years ago. What is more, with a pier nearby and an MTR station also in the vicinity, LYM can be said to be a unique tourist area. In this regard, we notice that the Government and HKTB have respectively launched the "Old Town Central" campaign and the "Hong Kong Neighbourhoods-Sham Shui Po" campaign in recent years. I hope the Secretary can study whether LYM can be made the third tourist spot for targeted promotion, with a view to strengthening the development of diversified tourist attractions in Hong Kong other than relying on the existing man-made spots.

 

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): My thanks go to Mr YIU Si-wing for his supplementary question and views. We agree that LYM has inherent edges on the historical, cultural and geographical fronts, and that it holds a certain appeal to foreign tourists. Therefore, while HKTB has already included LYM in its promotion work presently, as stated in the main reply, the enhancement project to be carried out at the waterfront of LYM can also highlight the local characteristics and enhance the attractiveness of LYM to tourists. The Project will include the construction of a public landing facility so that if water taxi services are introduced in the future, visitors can also reach LYM by sea transport apart from land transport, as suggested by Mr YIU. In addition, we will adopt a new design in the construction of a viewing platform, and also introduce some designs that match with the existing features of a fishing village, so as to enhance the attractiveness of the district.

 

As Mr YIU mentioned, we have also launched in recent years campaigns for some selected districts with characteristics, such as Sham Shui Po District and Wan Chai District, with a view to enhancing the districts' attractiveness to tourists and highlighting their local characteristics. We will continue to consider launching more of such campaigns. In addition, we hope to carry out the project to improve the facilities along LYM waterfront as expeditiously as possible after securing funding approval in the coming year.

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