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By Ming Yeung in Hong Kongmingyeung@chinadailyhk.迷你倉將軍澳comTourism in Hong Kong has been expanding — but it is currently suffering from a serious “brain drain”, industry experts warn.How the industry can revive its “halo” and improve work conditions and career prospects was discussed at the 20th SAR Media (Recruit) Roundtable chaired by Professor Raymond So, dean of School of Business at Hang Seng Management College. The roundtable attracted government officials and industry experts. It was organized by Recruit Holdings and co-organized by China Daily Asia Pacific and the Hong Kong Management Association.One of the four economic pillars of Hong Kong, the tourism industry grew 7 percent year-on-year over the past decade, hiring more than 233,000 people, according to the Census and Statistics Department.Susanna Lau, Travel Expert’s general manager in Marketing and Product Development, said the standard of inbound tours varied significantly because some inbound travel companies were small and lacked proper management. She said these companies emphasized quantity over quality with tour activities relying heavily on shopping.There were nearly 50 million visitors to Hong Kong in 2012, of which 70 percent were from the mainland. The number is expected to hit 70 million after completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in 2018.“We should not get conceited about the surging figures,” said Michael Wu, chairman of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong. He said half the visitors came to Hong Kong only for a day trip.“There is a real danger of having a tax-free zone in Shenzhen,” said Wu, who said he expected tourist numbers would drop by 10 million if the tourists felt there was no point coming here to shop anymore.Even for those who stay overnight, the manpower needed to deal with the ever-increasing inbound visitors was still insufficient, especially in catering and hotels. “None of the hotels in Hong Kong have enough staff,” stressed Benedict Chow, Harbour Grand Hong Kong’s general manager.He said the industry had to come up with a short-term solution to “stop bleeding”. Many of its experienced employees had been lured away by better packages in Macao.“I have seen the young people come and go in a month. We have opened for four years but we are always short-handed,” Chow said.He said sometimes parents opposed their children working in hotels because it was so demanding.Create the ‘halo’Theme parks face similar problems. With the mainland’s rising middle-class, Hong Kong’s theme parks need to increase capacity to reinforce their attractiveness, said Matthias Li, Ocean Park’s deputy chief executive.Apart from a nearly 30 percent turnover rate a year, the tourism industry finds it hard to recruit new talent. “We have to compete against other industries for the same pool of the workforce. For instance, only 20 percent of hotel management graduates join the industry. How are we going to change the image of the industry and create our ‘halo’ to young people?” asked Andrew Kam, managing director of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort.“It’s fine they change jobs, as long as they don’t change fields,” said Kam, adding that a “company’s culture” was the key factor in retaining staff.To attract young people, companies have to be proactive and seek out capable candidates on university campuses, advised Steve Huen, EGL Tours Co Ltd’s executive director. Huen said his company had started providing seminars at universities to explain tourism to students.“We have to let them know what we are providing is not simply a vocation, but a career,” Huen said.But travel experts also say many young people today lack a commitment to work and change jobs too easily.The service quality was deteriorating because the new generation had poorer language proficiency and lacked people skills.A steady source of manpower comes from institutes under the Vocational Training Council (VTC). Winnie Ngan, VTC’s academic director of Hotel, Service and Tourism Studies, said that her annual 5,000 students maintain a 90 percent employment rate after graduation.The relevant employment rate, meaning students joining the field equivalent to their study major, was 85 percent.But the industry still had problems attracting young people. This was because starting salaries varied greatly and some jobs were unappealing to young people. Waiters and bellboys, for example, were hit especially hard.Some difficult jobs remained unattractive to young people - no matter how well they were promoted, explained Professor Denis Wang, director of School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. But he said there were still plenty of opportunities.“Throughout the eco迷你倉尖沙咀omic history of the world, all successful cases of economic transformation had to rely on the importation of low-skilled workers from elsewhere,” Wang said. Failing to make the most of this opportunity would hurt the economy.He added that Hong Kong had more to offer than just attractive destinations. For instance, it could develop medical, financial and education tourism.Michael Wu said that while importing foreign labor was controversial in Hong Kong, blindly increasing salaries was not a sustainable way to retain staff.Using Macao as an example, Wu said Hong Kong should be aware of the downside of using imported labor. Since Macao opened up its gaming industry in 2002, it had imported many workers from the mainland and other countries. But most of them worked for casinos.While casinos were competing against each other for workers by increasing salaries, they were still understaffed. Even after one offered more than HK$20,000 for a shuttle bus driver, it still could not get the right applicant, Wu said, citing a recent example.Other small businesses had to close because they could not afford to pay their workers as well, he added.Employment mismatch“What we see now is a mismatch between employers and employees,” said Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung.In October, the government launched a four-month population consultation to gather views on how to deal with an aging population and a shrinking workforce.With a 3.5 percent unemployment rate, Cheung said Hong Kong’s workforce was not being fully utilized. More manpower could be allocated to different areas.At present, there were about 500,000 women between 30-59 years of age currently out of the workforce. Some were forced to stay home to take care of children and elderly people.Cheung said if more nursing homes for elderly people and childcare services were available, these women could return to the workforce.New immigrants and South Asian minorities were also available, Cheung noted. People with disabilities were largely excluded from the job market, but they could potentially help society.“Employers have to change their mindset; these people are all valuable to the job market and to Hong Kong as a whole,” he said.Cheung said that as Hong Kong people enjoyed a long life expectancy, the city could make greater use of its elderly population. The government is studying the feasibility of prolonging the retirement age to 65 in the civil service. A report on the issue will be out early next year.Echoing Cheung’s suggestions, Michael Wu said labor insurance did not cover employees over the retirement age. This often stopped companies hiring older people.“We have to diversify some jobs. For instance, we hire part-time hotel cleaning women in some districts who refuse to work full-time or travel long distances just for a cleaning job,” Wu suggested.Harbour Grand Hong Kong’s Benedict Chow also urged the government to be less strict about allowing people to work in Hong Kong. He said he felt frustrated when his application to the Immigration Department for a Russian-speaker was rejected three times. Without such an employee, his hotel could not develop its business with Russian tourists. The number of Russian tourists visiting Hong Kong recently has been increasing considerably, he noted.Winnie Ngan stressed that long hours and a tough working environment were still deterring young people from entering the industry. Instead of telling them to be loyal, the industry should improve their work conditions, she suggested.With underused manpower in the city, together with new immigrants from the mainland, Matthew Cheung said Hong Kong would not consider importing labor from overseas unless there was no alternative.“The problem can’t be solved overnight and there is no single solution. The government, the industry and employers have to cooperate to sort this out. We don’t take antibiotics until the very end,” Cheung said.There is a real danger of having a tax-free zone in Shenzhen”Michael Wuchairman of the Travel Industry Council of Hong KongWe have to compete against other industries for the same pool of the workforce ... How are we going to change the image of the industry and create our ‘halo’ to young people?”Andrew Kammanaging director of Hong Kong Disneyland ResortEmployers have to change their mindset; these people (with disabilities) are all valuable to the job market and to Hong Kong as a whole”Matthew CheungKin-chungSecretary for Labour and WelfareThe standard of inbound tours varies significantly because some inbound travel companies are small and lack proper management”Susanna LauTravel Expert’s general manager in Marketing and Product Developmentmini storage