Hong Kong’s premium taxi fleets could be in line for quality service logo

Premium taxis may be eligible to receive a stamp of approval under a quality service scheme, the head of a Hong Kong body that promotes better standards in the tourist sector has said, adding that Halal-friendly restaurants may also be included next year in a bid to improve the city’s appeal to Muslim visitors.

Simon Wong Kit-lung, chairman of the Quality Tourism Services Association, also suggested that a further increase in mainland Chinese tourists was unlikely to drive a sharp rise in local retail sales as their spending patterns had “normalised”.

Transport authorities granted five premium taxi fleet licences in July in a bid to promote service quality across the trade, and operators have until the end of July next year to launch their services.

Hong Kong’s taxis have a poor reputation among locals and tourists with complaints mostly about cherry-picking passengers and overcharging fares.

Wong said following the introduction of the new taxi category, there were plans to bring it under the Quality Tourism Services Scheme, of which his association is a partner.

“For several years, people have been asking us whether the quality stamp can be extended to taxis. In the past, the biggest problem was that people hailed taxis whenever they saw one, and they wouldn’t only catch a taxi when they spotted the quality stamp,” he said on a pre-recorded television show aired on Saturday.