News roundup: Hong Kong hospitality drive promotes courtesy to visitors, plus other headlines

For PropertyGuru’s real estate news roundup, the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s “Let’s Go the Extra Mile” hospitality campaign promotes courtesy and good service towards tourists. In other news, here are some tips and tricks to prepare an apartment garden for summer in Dubai. And young Filipinos embrace the buy now, pay later payment method for financial flexibility.

‘We should smile more’: Hong Kong launches hospitality drive to promote courtesy towards visitors

Hong Kong launched a campaign to promote courtesy and good service towards tourists on 3rd June. The Hong Kong Tourism Board’s (HKTB) “Let’s Go the Extra Mile” hospitality campaign encourages frontline staff and members of the public to make a special effort with visitors.

The HKTB said its new TV promotion, starring actors Louis Koo and Ng Siu-hin, shows “how we can all better demonstrate hospitality by going the extra mile with small gestures while highlighting the city’s professional-quality services, thus leaving a positive impression on customers.”

HKFP reports that last month, HKTB chair Pang Yiu-kai said the top complaints from visitors in 2023 included unfriendly retailers, waiters, and taxi drivers, as well as poor telecoms and wi-fi services. He urged customer service staff to smile more.

How to prep apartment gardens for summer in Dubai

Dubai residents are well aware of the intense hot and humid summer season the emirate endures yearly. Although we residents are lucky to escape to air-conditioned indoors, your home garden cannot. So, you have to develop ideas to help the garden thrive in the sweltering heat. Let’s look at some tips and tricks in myBayut to prepare your apartment garden for summer in Dubai.

Younger Filipinos ride the wave of buy now, pay later for increased financial flexibility

Despite recent developments in the Philippines, there are still reasons to be optimistic after a year beset by various economic and financial challenges. The World Bank has projected the Philippines to be among the fastest-growing economies in the region on the back of the acceleration of private consumption. Filipinos are becoming financially savvy, with an increased usage of financial technology (fintech) services and a more proactive attitude towards financial literacy and responsible credit management.

One of the more noticeable areas that has seen growth in usage is buy now, pay later (BNPL). BNPL is an alternative credit-enabled payment method that allows consumers to immediately finance purchases and pay them back in fixed instalments over a relatively short period. A Q1 2024 survey shows that reported BNPL service usage in the past twelve months grew to 42 percent in the period from 39 percent a year prior.

According to BusinessWorld, awareness of BNPL services is high among the younger generations, as 81 percent of Gen Z and 86 percent of Millennials said they’ve heard of such offerings. Among those who’ve heard of BNPL, 65 percent of Gen Z and 68 percent of Millennials reported using BNPL services at least once in the past 12 months.

The Property Report editors wrote this article. For more information, email: [email protected].