Hong Kong's transport - not dining or shopping - top with tourists

Hong Kong - Hong Kong's transport network and its Immigration Department have been voted the top attractions of the city by tourists, according to a survey published Friday.

The two scored 79.9 and 76.7 points, respectively, out of 100 in a poll of 2,841 tourists conducted from May to August this year.

In terms of tourism satisfaction, the scores put transportation and immigration ahead of attractions, which notched up 73.9 points, shopping with 73.2 and hotels with 72.4.

At the bottom of the list of six aspects included in the survey was restaurants, which scored 69.4.

The results were likely to be a surprise to the tourist industry, which promotes Hong Kong as Asia's culinary capital and a shoppers' paradise.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board has designated this year Food and Wine Year to celebrate what it terms the city's 'rich gastronomic heritage.'

Hong Kong is also one of only two cities in Asia to have its own Michelin Guide.

The survey was carried out by Polytechnic University's School of Hotel and Tourism Management, which attributed transportation's number one spot to the convenience of the Airport Express rail link.

Immigration scored high, it said, because of the efficiency of immigration procedures at the airport.

In total, Hong Kong scored an average of 72.6 points with the tourists surveyed. The highest rating came from Americans, who gave the city an average of 78.4 while the lowest of 66.33 came from tourists from Macau and Taiwan.