The Travel Industry Council (TIC) on Friday welcomed the mainland's move to allow Shenzhen residents to visit Hong Kong as many times as they want in future, rather than only once per week. Executive director Fanny Yeung said the visa change, which comes into effect on December 1, is "very significant" for the tourism sector. She said she expects the number of visitors from Shenzhen to increase by at least 20 percent over Christmas. "We have all these kinds of beautiful Christmas decorations...the atmosphere, the vibes, you cannot find it in any mainland city," she said. Yeung said the TIC has come up with new ways to attract tourists from across the border. "We are encouraging our travel agents to offer more half day in-depth tours to attract these groups of visitors because these are experienced visitors here in Hong Kong. They know a lot of places in Hong Kong already. But most of them, they don't know about the history, or some back-end stories of some particular spots." Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu also said he believes the multi-entry permits will boost the sector, adding that they will allow more people to join the SAR's mega events. Wholesale and retail sector lawmaker Peter Shiu said the move provides a shot in the arm for businesses, but they also need to make improvements such as offering more specialty products to encourage spending.
