PolyU releases 2011 Hong Kong Tourist Satisfaction Index
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today (20 October) released the PolyU Tourist Satisfaction Index (PolyU TSI). This year's PolyU TSI stood at 72.61, indicating that inbound tourists are generally satisfied with the services they received during visits to Hong Kong.
Spearheaded by Professor Haiyan Song, Associate Dean and Chair Professor of Tourism at the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM), the PolyU TSI measures inbound tourists' satisfaction levels across six tourism-related sectors and integrates them into an overall index. The sectors that have consistently excelled in service performance in Hong Kong are transportation and attractions. Immigration services, hotels, restaurants and retail shops have also received generally positive results and managed to exceed tourists' expectations.
Although the PolyU TSI for 2011 is slightly lower than those in the previous two years (the score in 2009 was 72.65 which was surpassed in 2010 with a score of 73.94), the overall score has remained fairly consistent over time and remains above 70 index points. "Overall, the tourism industry in Hong Kong is competitive and performs consistently well across comparable sectors," observed Professor Haiyan Song.
He also believed that with the PolyU TSI, Hong Kong is able to determine its performance and competitiveness relative to other international tourism destinations, thus allowing it to identify strategic areas for further improvement.
The PolyU TSI not only evaluates service sector competitiveness over time but also across international tourism destinations, allowing meaningful benchmarking. Adopting the same Index system, the TSI for Macau and Shenzhen for the same period was 68.5 and 65.1 respectively. "The PolyU TSI is indeed a universal indicator of performance. Adopting universal performance reporting techniques such as the PolyU TSI affords destinations the ability to identify areas for further improvement and implement relevant strategies to enhance tourist satisfaction levels," said Professor Song.
Since its launch in 2009, PolyU TSI has been serving as a comprehensive system to provide authorities and industry practitioners with much needed information for decision making and planning. The Index has been adopted by Macau and Shenzhen to measure visitor satisfaction of their cities.
PolyU's School of Hotel and Tourism Management is one of the world-leading providers of hospitality and tourism education. It is ranked No. 2 in the world among hotel and tourism schools based on research and scholarship, according to a study published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research in November 2009.
With 60 academic staff drawing from 18 countries, the School offers programmes at levels ranging from PhD to Higher Diploma. It was awarded the 2003 International Society of Travel and Tourism Educators Institutional Achievement Award in recognition of its significant contribution to tourism education, and is designated by United Nations World Tourism Organisation as one of its global Education and Training Centres.
About PolyU School of Hotel and Tourism Management
For more than four decades, the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has refined a distinctive vision of hospitality and tourism education and become a world-leading hotel and tourism school. Ranked No. 1 in the world in the "Hospitality and Tourism Management" category in ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2024 for the eighth consecutive year; placed No. 1 globally in the "Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services" category in the University Ranking by Academic Performance in 2023/2024 for seven years in a row; rated No. 1 in the world in the "Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism" subject area by the CWUR Rankings by Subject 2017; and ranked No. 1 in Asia in the "Hospitality and Leisure Management" subject area in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025, the SHTM is a symbol of excellence in the field, exemplifying its motto of Leading Hospitality and Tourism.
The School is driven by the need to serve its industry and academic communities through the advancement of education and dissemination of knowledge. With a strong international team of over 90 faculty members from 21 countries and regions around the world, the SHTM offers programmes at levels ranging from undergraduate to doctoral degrees. Through Hotel ICON, the School's groundbreaking teaching and research hotel and a vital aspect of its paradigm-shifting approach to hospitality and tourism education, the SHTM is advancing teaching, learning and research, and inspiring a new generation of passionate, pioneering professionals to take their positions as leaders in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Website: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/shtm/.