Tourists should really stop coming to Hong Kong. There isn't much left to see here, with older communities being demolished one-by-one and replaced by walls of skyscrapers, which in turn makes the already unbreathable air even murkier that it completely masks the Victoria Harbor view we were once so very proud of. There's a lot to do here though. What newly opened attractions locals wouldn't dare try are being tested by tourists everyday. If it weren't for our visitors, we wouldn't be able to compile such detailed reports of the record-breaking number of mishaps on the Ngong Ping cable cars and the many unresolved issues at the Hong Kong Disneyland.
Hong Kong tour guides should stop calling themselves scapegoats, as tourists should stop calling themselves victims. There's at least 400 tour guides here who are willing to pay agencies deposits from their own pockets just to keep their shitty jobs guiding mainlanders on zero-fee tours. And there's obviously a good number of mainlanders who are willing to risk joining these tours to Hong Kong. The existence of a "price" is questionable, but when there's supply and there's demand, it's a market made. So what's the problem?
I've learned a long time ago that you can't expect much from tours unless you're paying big bucks. In anything that resembles a "good deal", all your tour guide will ever care about is his/her income. That's why I've resorted to flight + accomodation packages long ago. Hong Kong is about the easiest metropolitan city to get around in. People who are serious about seeing this city should go pick up a map and an Octopus card.
And people, this is Hong Kong! You simply can't expect good service here unless you're in a five-star hotel. That isn't only true for tourists but for locals too. This is part of what makes up the "culture" of this city. If one day we start getting the sincere services Andy Lau has been promoting all these years, it just wouldn't be very Hong Kong.
I thought government bodies are not to interfere with the market. So the travel industry council should step back from this. Supply and demand are what set the price. Afterall, that's why we don't have a minimum wage. What the council should do is translate the small print into simplified Chinese for our visitors: Disclaimer: You're being charged 0 RMB for a vacation, so unless you lose an arm or something you can't claim you're not getting your money's worth. The destination you've chosen is materialistic Hong Kong. Visitors looking for free lunches should go to Macau.
2 comments:
Ah mainland tourists... can't live with 'em can't live without 'em.
I know it's a horrible generalisation but from what I've experienced, a lot of ordinary mainlanders have no sense of quality and service, so who cares so long as they follow the flag and have good places to shop on these zero-fee tours.
Def no-no on government intervention. They're just overblowing the situation because of the one moron who abandoned his tour group.
One time I noticed a group of mainlanders at the turnstiles in such awe and amazement at people using the octopus at my MTR. Couldn't help feel so uptight as I walked past them, haha
The mainlanders at the turnstiles aren't part of any tour group but are here to "explore" Hong Kong on their own. I've seen too many confused faces struggling to get through. The guy who fed his ticket to the gate on his left is my favorite.
The funny thing is, the mainlanders I see in Shenzhen and Guangzhou are just as troubled by the tokens and gates in their own respective Metros.
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