| 110 Agencies Open in Hong Kong |
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HONG KONG — The rosy economy is driving new players to enter the travel business, with the Travel Industry Council (TIC) reporting 110 new agents from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007.
TIC’s membership rose to 1,463, from 1,442, in the same period last year.
TIC executive director, Mr Joseph Tung, said agents organising short trips and one- or two-day tours within Guangdong was on the rise.
The Hong Kong Association of Travel Agents has recruited 20 members in the last 12 months. Ms Esther Tsui from the secretariat told TTG Asia: “We now have 264 members.”
But Mr Tung pointed out the downside — TIC had banned 16 members during the same period. “Some closed down without notifying us, while others went bust and consumers had complained about them.”
Recent newcomers included the six-staff HKFEW Travel Services, which officially opened on June 7. It is a spin-off from the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, established in 1975 and with more than 26,000 members. Managing director, Mr Simon Chan, said: “Rather than go through other travel agents, the association has chosen to go on its own in order to be more professional and focused on tailor-made educational travel packages to principals, teachers and students. We already have the knowledge and experience to provide what teachers want. Thus, we can give better service based on their educational and travel requests.”
About 80 per cent of its focus is on members. However, it plans to cater to non-members in the future. In addition, the agency connects teachers from other countries such as China, South Korea, Australia and the UK to come to Hong Kong.
Cruise, too, is getting hot. Princess Cruises set up Princess Holidays to push cruise holidays in Hong Kong and Macau, While Jetour Holdings, which owns Jetour Holiday, opened World Cruise Centre last May. |
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【2007-7-23 16:12:06】 |
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