‘Soft power’ links seen as crucial to travel economy

The “soft-connection” power is crucial to fostering a regional travel economy in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) said on Tuesday.

Bao Jigang, director of UNWTO’s Monitoring Center for Sustainable Tourism Observatories — the tourism arm of the UN agency responsible for promoting sustainable and universally accessible tourism — said the bay area is well positioned in hard infrastructure, with both the mega Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link due to go into service soon.

But, the key challenge comes from a lack of “soft-power” connections, which might hinder a convenient traveling experience.

“Clear policy guidance comes at the heart of enhancing the soft-power connectivity in the Greater Bay Area. Governments should consider measures, such as co-located customs, streamlining visa processes, improving the punctuality of flights and further relaxing the restrictions on self-driving trips,” Bao said. And, implementing such policies requires the cooperation of various municipal governments.

Citing his personal experience, Bao said he felt the convenience of great facilitation when traveling in the United States and Canada, but it would take much longer for his visa to be approved for business trips to Hong Kong and Macao.

“Having to wait for one hour for visa approval will simply put off tourists,” he lamented.

He noted that the vast differences in social systems and cultural backgrounds among the different jurisdictions in the Greater Bay Area present great challenges in creating a travel economy across the region.

But, on the other hand, such diversity serves as a great attraction for tourists, he said.

Bao said a regional travel economy has been a global trend since tourists nowadays prefer to visit peripheral regions rather than one specific destination. The tourist resorts in Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong province are highly complementary and can enhance the overall attractiveness, especially to long-haul tourists.

While Hong Kong offers the excitement of being an international metropolis, Macao stands uniquely different as a gaming and leisure center, Guangdong boasts abundant cultural relics, such as Kaiping Diaolou in Jiangmen, which comprises fortified multi-story watch towers in a village countryside that has been designated a world heritage site by the UNESCO.

Diversities across the region also provide a wider variety of tourism products for visitors.

To achieve a sustainable tourism industry, Bao said, both tourists and local citizens’ interests should be considered, adding that there have been cases of local people being hostile to tourists when their lives are disrupted by traffic congestion and inflation.

He urged governments to watch closely and mitigate such interruptions by taking various measures to ease traffic, reduce noise pollution, and maintain an orderly and clean environment. Most importantly, the authorities should use the economic benefits from tourism to enhance the overall living standards to enable everyone to reap the fruits of tourism.

Governments in these regions should join hands to leverage both their hard and soft connectivity and promote a connected, robust and sustainable tourism economy, Bao added.

evelyn@chinadailyhk.com