Lee told the media before his weekly meeting with the Executive Council that the mainland cities, all provincial and regional capitals with large populations and rapid economic growth, “were high-consumption cluster cities”.
“The newly added eight cities under the Individual Visit Scheme are estimated to bring about 300,000 tourists to Hong Kong every year, as well as around HK$1.2 billion to HK$1.5 billion in spending. This amounts to an added economic value of about HK$700 million to HK$900 million,” he said.
The eight cities are Taiyuan in Shanxi; Hohhot in Inner Mongolia; Harbin in Heilongjiang; Lhasa in Tibet; Lanzhou in Gansu; Xining in Qinghai; Yinchuan in Ningxia; and Urumqi in Xinjiang.
Lee said that the additions would bring several benefits to the economy, including a bigger pool of overnight visitors and push the tourism industry to improve its offerings and services.
“This presents a good opportunity for the Hong Kong industry to adapt, change, create and…
