The Rita Tong Liu School of Business and Hospitality Management of Saint Francis University (SFU) co-organised a seminar on the New Regulatory Regime and Career Development of the Travel Industry on 10 March 2025 (Mon) with the Travel Industry Authority (TIA), and had the honor of inviting Ms Venus WU, Director of Corporate Services, TIA, to deliver the seminar.
In the seminar, Ms WU introduced the process of establishing the TIA and the vision and mission of the TIA under the new regulatory regime for the travel industry. She said that the statutory function of the TIA is to regulate 1,600 licensed travel agents and nearly 20,000 tourist guides and tour escorts in Hong Kong, to nurturing Hong Kong's tourism talent for progression.
Regarding the situation of Hong Kong's travel industry, Ms WU said that the number of outbound tours has returned to 80% to 90% of the pre-epidemic level. She also noted that the requirements of Hong Kong people for joining group tours have changed in recent years, demanding high quality hotels, flights and itineraries, and the industry has upgraded the quality to cope with the changes, such as recruiting more experienced tour escorts to meet the requirements. As for inbound tours, Ms WU said that in recent years, there have been more visitors from places like Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand. They have strong spending power and specific interests or activities, such as worshipping, hiking and visiting cemeteries in Hong Kong. The TIA is now launching the Specialised Tourist Guide Licensing Programme to provide comprehensive services to visitors to Hong Kong.
Ms WU said that as tourism is one of the four economic pillars of Hong Kong, a thriving tourism industry will also drive the development of other industries. She wished that students could join different positions in the tourism industry according to their interests after graduation and fulfill their potentials.