In this podcast, the president of Wharf Hotels Jennifer Cronin speaks about Hong Kong’s effective containment of Covid-19, how it can serve as a model for restarting travel, the formation of a co-funded Heritage Tourism Fund and the rise of women leadership.
Hong Kong, as a destination, has been hit hard on two fronts – last year, by the political protests and now, with Covid-19 bringing tourism to its knees.
In February, tourist arrivals dived to a new low – on March 16, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced that the provisional figure for visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in February plummeted 96.4% from the year-ago period to 199,000 – the daily average during peak season in 2019. This figure is far lower than the 427,000 arrivals in May 2003, during the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak.
Acknowledging the challenges posed by Covid-19, which has resulted in closed borders to incoming arrivals, Cronin, who sits on a couple of recovery taskforces, said that the HKTB was using this opportunity to review its “longer term repositioning”.
In an interview for The WiT Podcast, Cronin said, “In the various task forces that I’m now participating in, we really talk about how to communicate outside of Hong Kong what is happening, how we’ve been able to manage Covid-19 containment and to share that Hong Kong is just not about the high rises around Victoria Harbour, it’s made up of 265 islands. It’s got the most incredible hiking experiences.”
She said that the Heritage Tourism Board Group has put together a fund to drive a digital and video campaign to showcase “the beauty of Hong Kong, not just the hustle and bustle, but all of the other experiences that we have never really emphasised enough”.
Private sector bodies involved in the group has made a monetary contribution to the fund and the HKTB will also be supporting it, she said.
“We’re also working with the home carrier, Cathay. They’ve got a great campaign coming out and what we have found is that we don’t have to spend huge marketing budgets of the past. But if you are able to share on all of your digital platforms, it’s something that is really then shared around and viewed and people are really able to communicate that.”
In the podcast, Cronin also talks about how women leadership has come to the fore with countries that have done a good job containing the crisis, being run by women – for example, Angela Merkel of Germany, Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand and Carrie Lam of Hong Kong.
Asked if this was some form of redemption for Hong Kong’s chief executive who was vilified in the political protests, she said, “Most definitely. That’s exactly why I believe that we need to talk about Hong Kong’s ability to get through this so much better, as well as the economic initiatives that have been given. We now have subsidies to be able to subsidize employee salaries for six months. This will help us get through this year for sure.”
She added, “I believe that what we’re seeing with the female leaders of these countries that are becoming success stories, is that it’s very much a tough stance, but also one with empathy and compassion. It’s joining those leadership abilities that have paid off for those jurisdictions better than anywhere else. And some of those very famous male leaders around the world have given a completely different spin on how to manage this situation.”
Incidentally, the Castell Project this week released its second Women in Hospitality Leadership Report about which founder Peggy Berg commented, “While the discourse is improving we have quite a way to go to achieve equitable opportunity for women in upper leadership. For example, women are about half of director-level employees in hotel companies, but females make up only one in 22 CEOs and one in nine presidents. There clearly is a disconnect where highly competitive women are not being considered for promotion.”
In the podcast, Cronin also talks about the eventual linking of Covid-19 “safe bubbles” – say between Hong Kong and China – that could restart tourism in the city. Indeed, Hong Kong International Airport, in preparation for the day when borders open, has started trialling “CLeanTech”, a full-body disinfection channel facility. Persons using the facility will have a temperature check before entering an enclosed channel for the 40-second disinfection and sanitizing procedures.
The Airport Authority is also conducting a pilot test of applying antimicrobial coating at all passenger facilities. After completion of the trial in May, it will consider implementing it as a long term disinfection measure. Autonomous cleaning robots have also been deployed to ensure thorough disinfection of public areas and passenger facilities in HKIA.
Said Cronin, “We believe the Hong Kong spirit is still very strong. It took a battering last year. We want to remind Hong Kong people first, before we go international, that they do have a great city, that there are great aspects about it and they should be celebrated.”
