The development of Hong Kong’s “soft power” will help to bring in more visitors and budget cuts for the tourism sector do not necessarily translate to less development for the industry, lawmakers and insiders have said.
Their comments followed finance chief Paul Chan Mo-po’s budget on Wednesday, under which funding for the Tourism Board for the coming year will drop by around 19.1 per cent to HK$1.23 billion (US$157.7 million) amid an overall government deficit.
Creative industries, meanwhile, will receive an estimated HK$1.22 billion, up 25.3 per cent from last year, while the sports and recreation sector will get HK$1.48 billion – more than double the amount in the last budget. These fall under the Culture, Sports and Tourism…
