Tourism’s pros and cons need to be weighed

I refer to Michael Chugani's column ("Squeezed out", July 13).存倉If Chugani had read my message carefully he would have noticed that the 100 million tourist number by 2023 is not a target, but rather an estimate based on current rate of growth.The reason why the working group on convention and exhibition industries and tourism (I was only the convenor and spokesman) put this number on the table was to sound a warning bell that if we should get anywhere near this number of tourists, our current level of infrastructure, including hotels and transportation (MTR, as Chugani pointed out) and everything else, would be totally inadequate.We would for instance have to double the number of hotel rooms. There is therefore no conflict between what he said and what we自存倉put forward.Whether we should close our doors is the subject of some debate. The working group's view is that Hong Kong should continue to welcome visitors from around the world, not just the mainland, and we should make great efforts to target high-spending groups like business visitors.To do otherwise will damage Hong Kong's reputation as an open economy. Chugani's argument that we should refuse more tourist revenue when there are poor people living in cubicles is a strange one. But I do agree that the government should focus more on distribution as our society gets richer.Do I take the MTR? Nothing can keep me away from the most efficient transport system in the world.Jack So, convenor, working group on convention and exhibition industries and tourism迷你倉新蒲崗