The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's School of Hotel and Tourism Management has released the second issue of the Hong Kong Tourism Forecasting Report reviewing forecasts of the demand for Hong Kong tourism from Mainland China and Taiwan.
The Report presents the forecasts from the Tourism Demand Forecasting System for Hong Kong. This sophisticated web-based system was jointly developed by PolyU's Public Research Institute and School of Hotel and Tourism Management and was officially launched on March 4, 2008.
Led by Professor Haiyan Song, Associate Director of the School, an expert panel of the Forecasting System gave their advice and opinions on the forecasts of future growth for total visitor arrivals in Hong Kong and future growth for Taiwan and Mainland Chinese visitors. It is found that the accuracy of the combined forecasts generated by the experts and the system is higher than that of the statistical forecasts alone.
Professor Song believes that "accurate forecasts of demand in the tourism sector of the economy will help Hong Kong formulate and implement appropriate medium-long term tourism strategies which will in turn enhance the tourism industry's sustainability."