Hong Kong Tourism Board Chairperson Selina Chow yesterday said that mainland tourists taking part in the "Quality Honest Travel" to Hong Kong were satisfied with the service and the scheme was a success.

The "Quality Honest Travel" is a joint effort with Beijing Tourism Administration (BTA).

"There has been a very positive response from the tour group. They were not taken to designated shops, but they ended up shopping a fair bit," said Chow. "Their enthusiastic feedback will be the best publicity for us once they return to the mainland," said a beaming Chow.

Explaining the future programme of the Tourism Board, Chow said the HKTB was planning to extend the "Quality Honest Travel" to other major cities in the country, such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, to dispel any reservations about Hong Kong's image and the "zero-fee tour" issue on Hong Kong tourism.

"The next few months will be a crucial time and we'll be working on it," said Chow. "I believe the number of incoming visitors will increase again during the Chinese New Year and it will remain high afterwards," she said.

During the upcoming WinterFest, organized by HKTB, there will be extensive publicity on Hong Kong's popular attractions in the mainland. The success of HKTB's efforts, Chow noted, will also lie in cooperation of BTA and city governments in the mainland, since it depends on education for the mainland public.

"I certainly hope there will be more travel agencies in Beijing joining the `Quality Honest Travel' scheme," said General Director of BTA Du Jiang.

The HKTB and BTA also signed yesterday a framework agreement promoting multi-destination Olympic itineraries in major markets.

The two have agreed to promote the various Olympic-related publicity campaigns, seminars and tourism in both cities, as well as facilitate the participation by journalists from 2006 to 2008, Jiang said.