The COVID-19 pandemic has overturned the global tourism ecology. It is expected that there will be significant changes to both tourism development strategies and tourists' preferred travel destinations. The Government needs to provide special support to the tourism industry in attracting diverse talents and assisting practitioners to change their career paths, paving the way for the development of the tourism industry when the epidemic is over.

In the 2021 Policy Address Submission, the Centre has incorporated the recommendations of its research into concrete and practical policy proposals on issues such as resuming the business environment and Hong Kong's tourism industry, promoting primary health care service, improving planning and land policies, and expanding the talent pool.

After years of operations, major parts of a lift will eventually wear out, posing safety hazards to users. Nevertheless, the cost of lift modernisation or retrofitting safety devices is prohibitively high, making it difficult for flat owners of old residential buildings to reach a consensus on lift improvement works in Hong Kong. In Mainland, some companies have offered occupants a novel solution via a ‘lifts as a public transit’ scheme. Through the scheme, they install the lifts and bear the construction and maintenance costs while passengers only need to pay each time they ride, just like taking a bus. Could this pay-per-ride model help speed up the modernisation of lifts in Hong Kong ?

After the COVID-19 pandemic, new norms will emerge in the global tourism industry. Tourists will seek more in-depth experiences and interaction with locals, and the tourism development will put more emphasis on the needs of local residents. Facing the new trends, the Government should cooperate with the tourism industry and adopt placemaking strategy with the participation of community organisations and residents to make the community an open museum, which can showcase locals’ daily lives and living culture, in a bid to attract tourists, preserve district cultural characteristics and improve the cityscape.

Lack of work experience, long gaps in employment and the problem of ‘motherhood penalty’ have always been barriers for full-time mothers to return to the workforce. A US-based women’s group thereby advocates writing into the resume their position of a ‘stay-at-home mum’ to fight workplace discrimination. How should employers treat ‘motherhood’ as a legitimate job?

Unpleasant experiences such as the increase of living cost, closures of small shops, and poor environmental hygiene caused by mass tourism have made many Hong Kong people turn pale upon hearing the word ‘tourists’. In fact, tourism development does not have to sacrifice different stakeholders in the community. It is also possible to create a win-win situation for the tourism industry and the community through developing themed tourism by placemaking and thus developing the economy in a sustainable way.