Press Releases

9 February 2022

The Travel Industry Authority (“TIA”) published today (9 February 2022) a consultation document on the implementation details of the new regulatory regime under the Travel Industry Ordinance (Cap. 634) (“the Ordinance”), including the proposals on subsidiary legislation to be made under the Ordinance, the directives applicable to licensees and other proposals relevant to the implementation of the new regulatory regime. The views of the practitioners, organisations and relevant stakeholders of the travel industry will be collected through an eight-week trade consultation lasting until Tuesday, 5 April 2022.

The Ordinance was passed by the Legislative Council in November 2018, which provides the legal framework for the new regulatory regime of the travel industry. Some of the provisions have already commenced in December 2019. TIA is established under the Ordinance in January 2020 and is an independent statutory regulatory body responsible for regulating the travel industry. Apart from discharging its regulatory function, TIA is also committed to enhancing the professionalism of the travel industry and to deterring and combatting the malpractices of the travel industry, so as to enhance the healthy and long-term development of the industry.

Mr MA Ho-fai, Chairman of TIA, said, “TIA is composed of members from the travel industry and different fields who possess extensive knowledge and experience in the operation of the travel industry. Since its establishment, TIA has been actively taking forward various preparatory works for the full implementation of the new regulatory regime of the travel industry. TIA and its committees have carefully considered the operation under the current regulatory regime for the travel industry, and have used this as the basis for detailed and specific discussion on the implementation details of the new regulatory regime. The drafting of the implementation details of the new regulatory regime has now been completed. The proposed details adhere to the framework of the Ordinance and accurately reflect the views of the travel industry during the scrutiny of the Ordinance. Through this trade consultation, TIA hopes to maintain adequate communication with the industry and assist the industry in transiting from the existing regime to the new regulatory regime smoothly; thereby facilitating the industry to achieve the goal of the Ordinance on enhancing the healthy development of the travel industry in the long run.”

The consultation document mainly consists of two parts. The first part is on the subsidiary legislation proposals prepared by TIA. In accordance with the Ordinance, TIA is required to make subsidiary legislation for the implementation details of the new regulatory regime. TIA proposes to make a total of four pieces of subsidiary legislation in accordance with the Ordinance, including the Travel Industry (Collection, Payment and Recording of Levies) Regulation, the Travel Industry Compensation Fund (Amount of Ex gratia Payments) Regulation, the Travel Industry Compensation Fund (Procedure for Ex gratia Payments) Regulation, and the Travel Industry (General) Regulation. The second part consists of other implementation details and arrangements of the new regulatory regime, including the requirements for the issue and renewal of licence, the directives for licensees applicable to travel agents, tourist guides and tour escorts, and regulation of shops that inbound tour groups are arranged to patronise.

The consultation document has been uploaded to the TIA website (https://tia.org.hk/en/consultation2022). Industry practitioners, organisations and relevant stakeholders are welcome to submit their views on or before Tuesday, 5 April 2022 by e-mail to consultation2022@tia.org.hk, by phone at 3916 3200, by fax to 3905 6600, or by post to the executive office of TIA (8/F, South Island Place, 8 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong).