The executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, Timothy Chui, said on Thursday that he has seen an obvious improvement in To Kwa Wan since new crowd control measures were imposed for mainland tour groups.

Travel agencies and restaurants earlier agreed to introduce a booking system so that multiple tour groups don't arrive at the same time, forcing people to wait in the street for a table.

On an RTHK programme, Chui said he went to a restaurant on Sung On Street at lunchtime on Wednesday and found the queue outside was shorter than it had been on previous days.

“From what I saw, there was still room for improvement, but it was already much better than before a booking system was implemented. The queue outside the restaurant was about the length of a tourist coach, but previously it used to stretch all the way round the corner of the street. There was obvious improvement,” he said.

Chui said he believes the restaurant in question needs more staff to carry out the new measures.

“I’m not familiar with restaurant operations, but I believe it may not have enough staff at the moment. It has assigned many staff members to help maintain order on the streets, so perhaps this has slowed down the arrangement of seats inside,” he said.

He said only two restaurants are receiving mainland budget tours at the moment, compared to seven in the past, and travel agencies should look for others which are interested in serving tour groups.