2023 – 2024
SIPA has negotiated special fares on The Greater Bay Airlines exclusively to SIPA members.
Our members have enjoyed the happy hour with The Greater Bay Airlines and fellow members to launch this new SIPA/HB partnership at ALIBI bar, Cordis Hong Kong.
SIPA has negotiated special fares on Korean Air exclusive to SIPA members and members are invited to meet with Korean Air and fellow members at Galbi Town, in Tsim Sha Tsui, for a Korean dinner for the launching of this new SIPA/KE partnership.
SIPA has first ever hosted an event to pair up business partners. On 11 July 2024, SIPA has arranged a mini-travel related exhibition for not only SIPA members but thanks to the support of the other associations including: FHCTA, HATA, HACTO, HJTOA, ICTA, OTOA, TTOA and HKTAO, we have recorded over 150 members’ registrations. SIPA aimed to create a platform and an opportunity for different travel industry practitioners to get to know each other and through this event to nurture different business opportunities. And thank you very much for the below companies’ participation and sponsors, the event was a successful one. Participants including airlines, cruise, cruise – agent, GDS, hotels, IATA, MICE and tour agents.
SIPA aims to create a platform for linking up agents and other industry stakeholders such as airlines, hotel, etc. and to get to know each other better and most of all for business collaboration in the future. The very first breakfast meeting of 2024 was to link up with Greater Bay Airlines (“HB”) and HB has given out a detailed presentation of their profile to SIPA’s members and HB also offered an exclusive offer for SIPA members on ticket booking and hoping to generate more ticket sales to a win-win situation. This was only the first breakfast meeting in the year and SIPA will strive to arrange more for the members.
SIPA’s 35th Anniversary and Appreciation Dinner was held at Regal Hong Kong Hotel in the evening of 11 December 2023. We were delighted that guests such as Ms. Trinky Chan, Assistant Commissioner for Tourism (1) Tourism Commission; Hon. Perry Yiu MH, JP, member of the Legislative Council; Mr. Dane Cheng, Executive Director of Hong Kong Tourism Board; Mrs. Gianna Hsu, Chairman of Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong and many more with our members were with us at the dinner. We have also invited various associations, airlines, hotels and other travel industry stakeholders such as representatives of various countries’ Tourism Boards and global distribution systems as well as veterans of the industry. Our event became a platform for all attendees to share views and thoughts with each other for business collaboration in the future, to mingle and to reunion. We have also invited Mr. Gary Li who was one of the veterans in the travel industry to perform for us, his performance boosted the party vibes and with the generosity of airlines and guests sponsored gifts and air tickets for lucky draw, our party vibes reached the climax. We hoped every participants enjoyed the evening and SIPA has many 35-year more to come.
Given that airlines had launched many new rules regarding ticket booking procedures in the post pandemic period and agents might easily violate and receive ADM, after researched and consolidated a list of unspoken rules and/or tricky tactics that easily overlooked by agents and to be fined, SIPA then had arranged a Chinese Dim Sum Briefing Meeting exclusively to SIPA members on 12 July 2023 at Chiu Chow Garden Restaurant. SIPA thanked for the representative from Westminster Travel to conduct a presentation of the researched result presented to the attendees and the attendees were also very actively expressing and sharing their experiences and incidents at the event. After the event, SIPA had also conducted an online survey to those who had attended the event and the event was rated welcome and useful in majority.
SIPA’s 32nd Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) was successfully held at Marco Polo Hongkong Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui on 6 January 2023. With most of the Government’s Anti-Pandemic and Social Distancing measures been released, we finally could take a group mask-off photo and we would like to thank you for members support by attending the AGM and fulfilled their rights and obligations to vote at the meeting. Since the Social Distancing measures were just released and for the benefit of all attendees, the luncheon set-up was to maintain a cozy but safe environment for attendees to enjoy and share the moment. We look forward to our life and business getting back to normal very soon like other countries around the world, we wish to meet all members in our next AGM and luncheon.”
2015 – 2022
As the Travel Industry Authority will be fully operated on 1 September 2022, new regulatory system and definitions were about to take place, SIPA has jointly arranged with FHCTA, OTOA and TTOA a luncheon held at ClubONE The Victoria, Tsimshatsui East with the guest speaker, Mr. Kevin Cheung, Director of Regulatory Affairs of TIA joining us to explain further the definition of “Authorized Representative” and other regulatory related matters. We believed the luncheon enabled members to better understanding the new system and could better prepare in advance for the new era.
Benefiting by the opening of the Frontier Closed Area, SIPA was honored to arrange the first Fam Tour among all 8 associations for SIPA members a few hours after Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced its opening in the ceremony. The opening of Sha Tau Kok Pier kicked off the reopening of the Frontier Closed Area since the 1950’s with Mrs. Lam saying it marked the first step of the Northern Metropolis Development. Only the pier was opened to public in the first stage and this pilot project would last for six months noticed by the Security Bureau. We look forward to more opportunities for local tours when pending for the border re-opened with mild quarantine or isolation regulation in place.
SIPA has jointly arranged a luncheon with HACTO and OTOA at One Cuisine, Holiday Inn Express Hong Kong Kowloon East for ideas/opinions exchange among tourism industry and for friendly association. We were honored to have Hon Yiu Si-Wing, BBS to join us and around 120 industrial practitioners had participated in the luncheon. Attendees were gathered and join the AGM of TICHK after the luncheon.
SIPA’s 31st Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) was successfully held at Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Tsim Sha Tsui. We would like to thank you for members support by attending the AGM during the tight Social Distancing regulations period. To comply with the anti-pandemic restrictions, unlike before, the luncheon was arranged in separated rooms with a maximum of 20 participants in each room. We hope the pandemic will be soon over and would have our next AGM and luncheon together again. See you next year.
SIPA and TIC have held the Seminar of New Distribution Capability jointly. The six speakers who are from IATA, Amadeus, Worldspan, Lufthansa and Cathay Pacific have given the informative updates of NDC to the audience. Meanwhile, Mr. Tasman Tam who is a barrister told the audience about the legal issues of NDC.
The Seminar brought together practitioners interested in e-commerce and online marketing, in which explored the long-term evolution and development of travel trend, provided practical methods to launch an e-commerce platform startup step-by-step, and shared experience to cooperate the e-commerce with effective marketing strategy.
SIPA has organised a Beijing 4 days familiarization tour with thirty members, By supporting from Beijing tourism, the members visited various historic heritage and enjoy the Kung Fu Show in Red Theater. Moreover, our ex-committee have visited IATA Beijing office and expressed the concern from our members. The members have received a fruitful trip in Beijing.
Leading by Tsz Shan Monastery volunteer, 40 members understand about the architectural idea and solemn concept of Chinese Buddhist monasteries. Moreover, all of members enjoyed a seafood lunch at the Star Palace and visited the Bruce Lee thematic gallery at Hong Kong Heritage Museum, they had a happy holiday.