Democratic lawmaker Albert Chan suggested yesterday that the Occupy Movement and Mong Kok riot be turned into tourist attractions, in order to boost Hong Kong’s slowing tourism.
The People Power party member ventured his ideas during a meeting convened by the Panel for Economic Development to discuss future plans for the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), amongst other things.
Chan said, “You could use the Mong Kok incident to create a tourist attraction spot. Like the fall of the Berlin Wall, you could sell the Mong Kok bricks,” before adding “plenty of people [would] want to buy them,” HKFP reports.
Part of the East Side Gallery, a portion of the Berlin Wall that has been turned into an artistic tourist attraction. Photo: Annette Chan
The legislator also suggested monetising the Occupy Movement by making official T-shirts to commemorate the 79-day protest.
Such campaigns would show the HKTB was attuned to local interests and development, in contrast to what he called sanitised, “politically contolled” tourism, which furthered the “mainlandisation” of Hong Kong.
Chan elaborated, “Tourism in every place should be [about] developing the local culture, local history and local authenticity. If you look at tourism management by communist countries, they’re doomed. They need to be politically correct and centrally controlled.”
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