It is salutary to note that only in recent days, after both the number of tourists coming to Hong Kong and the amount they spend in local shops have registered sharp declines, is any thought being given to the quality of tourists' shopping experience here. This is an important matter, because tourist spending could contribute much more to the economic success of this world city.

Are those who shop in Hong Kong always treated well enough? In some (not all) of our upscale shops the customers are generally offered reasonably high standards of service. As may be expected at that level, the high-spending visitors are well looked after. That fact is a great feather in Hong Kong's corporate cap. However, in some other areas, our visitors are clearly not treated well enough when shopping here.

For example I noticed recently that a landmark tourist sight - a local art museum - was filled with overseas visitors, from many lands. Most of them ended their tour of the galleries by visiting the museum shop, to pick up some postcards or a book or two. It was distressing to observe that some of the shop staff there exhibited a very unfortunate mixture of ignorance, indifference and plain rudeness. Ignorance, that is, of the bookshop's stock, which includes many scholarly works on Asian art. For the little that some of these museum bookshop staff members appear to know about the scholarly works on sale there, they might just as well be selling cabbages!

Indifference: On the day I visited, despite a long queue of people waiting to pay for their purchases, one of the three shop assistants on duty was chatting idly on the phone while another was fiddling with restocking shelves - blithely ignoring the growing queue - while only one was actually taking payments.

And then the rudeness: The counter shop assistant eventually reaches a final tally, and announces for example - "60 dollars!" No please, and of course no thank you afterwards. This is not good enough. To encourage the assistant to show a little more courtesy when requesting (rather than demanding) payment, I helpfully added to her, "Shouldn't that be 'HK$60 please ?' " The result was a stony and sullen silence and, of course, neither please nor thank you. "No, we don't accept EPS" is another such example. If this is their level of their discourtesy when handling paying customers at our prime cultural venue, then they should be selling cabbages in a wet market, well away from giving such a poor impression of Hong Kong to our much-needed cultural visitors.

The intriguingly named Mystery Shoppers Service Association recently announced the results of their 2014 survey of some 10,000 local shops, tourist sites and restaurants. Unfortunately, Hong Kong ranked almost at the bottom of their list of 41 places for a pleasant shopping experience. This will not surprise anyone who shops in Hong Kong.

A combination of factors likely contributes to the grumpy approach of too many of Hong Kong's shop assistants. Clearly, some of them are not properly trained in how to interact pleasantly with customers. Their long working hours and low rates of pay do little to cheer them up. Since few have anywhere to sit down during quieter periods, they are on their feet all day - so fatigue - must contribute to their cheerless approach to customers. This is one aspect of their work environment that management should improve both for the sake of their employees but by extension, also their customers.

You would think that, being bored to death by standing around in a shop for hours on end every day, they might want to enliven their dull routine by chatting amicably with customers; but few do.

The Quality Tourism Services Association is now running, from April 27 to May 29, a "happy" program in the hope of boosting tourist spending here in Hong Kong. Promotional prices form a large part of this. Their endeavors could usefully extend to providing considerably more much-needed training to shop assistants on how to interact pleasantly with customers.

Like an air cushion which an elderly traveler may use, courtesy has of itself not much substance - but it can enable the traveler to go a long way in comfort. More gracious interactions with customers, on the part of shop workers, would enhance the shopping and tourism experiences in Hong Kong, and perhaps serve to boost both.

(HK Edition 05/05/2015 page10)