Five Hong Kong and Macau sole-proprietorship tour operators will begin directly soliciting Guangdong Province mainland customers for outbound tours in a pilot scheme starting March 1.
The five tour operators were chosen for the pilot program by the China National Tourism Administration in an agreement on liberalization of trade in services under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) published on February 16 2015.
The agreement also specified Guangdong Province’s “restaurants and hotels”, “tour guide services” and “additional services” as sectors that Hong Kong and Macau businesses can receive mainland customers.
“This policy is meant to stimulate business and will allow related businesses to enjoy benefits in the mainland . In the past, Hong Kong and Macau sole-proprietorship tour operators couldn’t freely solicit mainland customers,” professor Hui Zhang of Beijing Transport University’s Tourism Department said.
Industry observers believe if the trial run with these five operators is successful, then more Hong Kong and Macau based tour operators will develop mainland service operations.(Translation by David)
