Our School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) recently released the PolyU Tourist Satisfaction Index (PolyU TSI). In this issue, we are pleased to have invited Prof. Haiyan Song, Associate Dean and Chair Professor of Tourism at SHTM, to share the findings with us.

Q1: PolyU TSI measures inbound tourists’ satisfaction levels across six tourism-related sectors and integrates them into an overall index. What are the six sectors?

They are: transportation, attractions, immigration services, hotels, restaurants and retail shops. They have received generally positive results and managed to exceed tourists’ expectations this year.

Q2: What is the sample size this year, and which markets do they come from?

We have received responses from 2,352 tourists, from seven source markets: Americas; Australia, New Zealand and Pacific; Europe, Africa and Middle East; Japan and Korea; the Chinese mainland; South and Southeast Asia; and Taiwan and Macau.

Q3: What is the score of the Index this year? How is the industry’s performance compared with those of previous years?

This year’s PolyU TSI stood at 72.61, out of a maximum score of 100, indicating that inbound tourists are generally satisfied with the services they received during visits to Hong Kong. It is slightly lower than those in the previous two years (72.65 in 2009 and 73.94 in 2010), but the overall score has remained fairly consistent over time and remains above 70 index points.

Q4: Have any other regions adopted the Index?    

The Index has been adopted by Macau and Shenzhen to measure visitor satisfaction of their cities.  The TSI for Macau and Shenzhen for the same period was 68.5 and 65.1 respectively.

Q5: What functions can the PolyU TSI perform?

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. With this Index, 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.

Note: The full report can be downloaded from: http://hotelschool.shtm.polyu.edu.hk/tsi