Enhancing Destination Value in Hong Kong Through Operational Excellence and Integrated Governance

Abstract

Hong Kong's tourism industry has rebounded rapidly after a post-pandemic, reaffirming the city's role as a major regional gateway. This recovery highlights a critical reality: in dense global cities, destination competitiveness increasingly depends on the capacity, fluency, and governance of operational systems, rather than attraction-based or marketing interventions alone. Drawing on official statistics, sector reports, and policy documents, this study employs an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach to examine how operations shape destination value in Hong Kong. The analysis identifies four interlinked challenges: (1) system-wide pressure from renewed high-volume mobility and concentrated peak flows; (2) capacity constraints in transport terminals, accommodation, and dense urban districts; (3) multi-agency fragmentation leading to process discontinuities and reduced journey fluency; and (4) a policy–implementation gap within the Development blueprint for Hong Kong's tourism industry 2.0. (Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, 2024), which identifies operational priorities but lacks concrete governance and performance integration mechanisms. In response, the paper proposes the Hong Kong Operations-Excellence (HOE) Framework, integrating Total Quality Management (TQM) principles with Operations Management (OM) tools to establish destination-level governance for flow optimization and process fluency. The framework comprises three layers: TQM-based destination governance, OM integration, and experiential outcome metrics. Policy recommendations include establishing a Destination Operations Council, implementing shared data protocols and predictive analytics, introducing operational certification, and prioritizing process-level experience redesign. The study contributes theoretically by reframing destination value as an operational outcome in high-density contexts, and practically by offering implementable governance mechanisms aligned with Hong Kong’s strategic tourism objectives.