HK boosts hospitality to promote tourism
Hong Kong on Monday launched a campaign to promote good hospitality in the SAR and provide better services to visitors. Speaking at the launch ceremony, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung said he hopes to make courtesy and good services a priority in all sectors after noting a few cases online of tourists being treated rudely. He said authorities will produce training videos and recruit more people for the Hong Kong Pals Volunteer Programme – dedicated to sharing recommendations and tips with visitors – in hopes of making Hong Kong the best tourist destination. "The most important thing is to make our tourists feel welcome. We can do that with a smile, or by asking a few questions or just making them feel cared for," he said.  "We want their needs to be met. I'm confident that Hongkongers are hospitable by nature. We're polite. We need to do more to remind each other so that we can do better." On the arrangements of the Waterbomb music festival, Yeung said he does not want an isolated incident to make people think that Hong Kong can't host events. People had to wait for hours in heavy rain after bad weather caused chaos at the K-pop and hip hop music festival over the weekend. Many fans were upset that they missed performances because of a storm signal, and were forced to wait for hours to retrieve their belongings. "Organisers need to offer high-quality services so their customers feel they're spending their money well. With outdoor events, we always remind organisers to be cautious and to be prepared for extreme weather, which is quite common in Hong Kong from May to October. They need to consider what measures to take to deal with these contingencies," Yeung said.