Tour Guides 'struggling To Secure Govt Lifeline'

Several tourism unions said many tour guides have been unable to apply for a government subsidy for the sector under the anti-epidemic relief fund, with some citing disputes with their employers.

Under the Travel Agents and Practitioners Support Scheme, staff at travel agencies could apply for a HK$5,000 monthly subsidy for six months.

But the Hong Kong Tourism Industry Employees General Union said it has received more than 500 informal complaints from tour guides, saying they couldn’t apply for the scheme.

The union said in one case, a sizeable travel agency refused to put its company stamp – which is needed for applications – on some 40 application forms.

The union's chairwoman, Sara Leung, said some tour guides had earlier taken legal action against the agency after it delayed paying their wages, and in retribution the agency refused to give the tour guides the stamp they needed to apply for the government subsidy.

She said that when the tour guides took the matter to the Travel Industry Council, the council accepted the agency’s argument that they couldn’t put a stamp on the applications because they had not assigned tours to the guides.

Leung added that a large part of the agency’s business is on tours to Japan for mainland tourists, and it pays the tour guides via a separate company registered in Japan.

.

She accused the government of siding with the employers while making life difficult for the employees.

Leung said the government has already given two rounds of one-off subsidies to the travel agencies, while frontline workers have been caught in red tape when applying for a subsidy.

She said she hopes the government would accept the tour guides’ applications as long as they provide proof that they had led tours.

Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Luk Chung-hung echoed Leung's concerns, and urged the government to use the remaining HK$260 million reserved for the tourism industry in its anti-pandemic fund to directly support frontline tourism workers.

The chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Instructors Association, Lam Chi-ting, meanwhile, called on the government to provide an extra training subsidy for tour guides, so they could learn new skills during the pandemic.