Tourist industry professionals expressed high hopes yesterday for co-operation among all parties concerned in the Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) region, but had reservations on some technical issues such as mutual recognition of credentials.

Macao Tourist Guide Association Director Wu Wai-Fong said yesterday that closer co-operation by the tourist sectors in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao would give a big boost to the competitiveness of PPRD in the regional market.

She said the imminent opening of Hong Kong Disneyland, the listing of Macao's historic urban centre as a United Nations-designated World Cultural Heritage Site, and the growing number of attractions in Guangdong Province will make the PPRD region a tourist resort.

The PPRD region encompasses the mainland provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, Guangdong, Hainan, Guizhou and Yunnan and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Hong Kong and Macao. Top officials, academics and business people from the nine provinces and two SARs are attending the second PPRD Regional Co-operation and Development Forum in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, this week. Tourism is one of the main topics of the event.

Wu also pointed out that Macao needed to do a lot in order to take full advantage of its World Cultural Heritage Site status. For instance, the SAR government should simplify entry procedures for foreign tourists and train an adequate number of guides proficient in major foreign languages and Putonghua and with broad knowledge about Macao, especially its cultural heritage.

As for the mutual recognition of credentials for professional tour guides, she said the issue had been raised several times but most of the local guides were worried the practice would threaten their jobs if more mainland counterparts came to work here.

Wu said she was fairly sure local guides would survive such a policy change, but time is not ripe for the SAR government to give the nod. And she was confident the relevant authorities would commit to it only when local professionals are ready for the challenge.

Editor: Yan