Hong Kong has set up a working group to plan for an expected surge of visitors from the mainland around the October 1st holiday. The main aims of the group are overall coordination of the flow of tourists, security in the territory, and streamlining procedures at border crossing points.

Tourism administrators in Hong Kong also want to see the processing of passports and travel permits improved to ease congestion at border points.

If travel plans are known in advance, tourism operators will know the number of arrivals, and can plan accommodation in advance. Travelers will also have a better idea of the best time to visit if tourism agencies provide accurate information forecasts about visitor conditions in the region. Hong Kong is also working on improving its Quality Tourism Services, and will make sure tourists get a copy of the QTS Retailers Guidebook. In addition, the tourism-working group is clamping down on price gouging in the hotel industry to keep room prices reasonable during the October 1 holiday. Meanwhile, airlines will boost the number of flights to Hong Kong out of Beijing and Shanghai by 20 percent over the next four months.

(CCTV.com September 15, 2003)