Hong Kong 2006 - Travel and Tourism

The Hong Kong Tourism Board is a subvented organisation responsible for marketing and promoting Hong Kong around the world as a preferred destination for leisure and business. The HKTB board of directors consists of 20 members representing a broad spectrum of tourism-related interests. It works from a head office in Hong Kong and has 15 other offices and six representative offices across the world.

Through its marketing activities, the HKTB reinforces Hong Kong's status as a world-class city and Asia's most popular tourist destination. It strives not only to attract more visitors to Hong Kong by promoting the city's unique diversity and sophistication, but also to make their visits more enjoyable so that they might stay longer.

The HKTB commissions extensive market studies to assess industry trends, perceptions of Hong Kong overseas and feedback from visitors. It shares information with the Government and with its industry partners to help the industry meet tourist demands more effectively and to make capital of new business opportunities.

A wide range of marketing strategies is employed to win business from different markets. The HKTB also works closely with its overseas counterparts to develop attractive tourism products. The HKTB organised study trips to Hong Kong for more than 1 400 international media representatives and about 2 400 representatives of the travel trade in 2006.

The HKTB has joined forces with other tourism offices, particularly those on the Mainland and around Asia to take advantage of the growing trend in multi-destination visits, especially by long-haul travellers, by offering them attractive multi-destination itineraries featuring Hong Kong as part of the tour.

The HKTB operates two Visitor Information and Services Centres in Hong Kong, one on Hong Kong Island and the other in Kowloon, as well as information counters at the Hong Kong International Airport and Lo Wu boundary. In 2006, these centres assisted 1.6 million visitors, distributed 11.6 million leaflets and other visitor literature, and handled more than 88 000 enquiries through various channels including the Visitor Hotline. The HKTB also operates a Visitor Information and Services Centre in Beijing to cater to the growing demand for information from Mainland travellers.

The discoverhongkong.com consumer website now receives more than 12 million page views per month. To meet the increasing demand from travellers for information about activities, interesting events, shopping and dining recommendations and other attractions in Hong Kong, the HKTB launched a new Hong Kong Mobile Host service in July in collaboration with five mobile network operators to meet this demand. The service provides on-the-spot commentaries and is available in voice mode in English, Putonghua and Cantonese and in text and graphic format via Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).

The HKTB strives to maintain a diversified portfolio of visitors. During the year, the HKTB campaigns paid particular attention to 16 major overseas tourist markets that together account for about 93 per cent of visitors to Hong Kong. The HKTB adopts a flexible and integrated approach to meeting different market needs, including electronic and print media advertising, trade and consumer promotions, trade and media cooperation activities, online marketing and public relations campaigns.

During the 'Discover Hong Kong Year' campaign, the HKTB stepped up its efforts to market and promote the diversity of Hong Kong's new and existing attractions, and its Mega Events programme.

The HKTB also continued its efforts to attract high-yield segments, such as business and family travellers. The themed Mega Events programme has proved successful in attracting visitors and making their stay more enjoyable. Six Mega Events — the International Chinese New Year Night Parade, the Culture and Heritage Celebration, Hong Kong Shopping Festival, the Mid-Autumn Lantern Celebration, and Hong Kong Winterfest — as well as the Best of the Best Culinary Awards — were held during 2006.

Hong Kong is widely recognised as the conventions and exhibitions capital of Asia and continues to attract leading international events to its shores. The HKTB provides strong support services to organisations planning to stage major events in Hong Kong.

This sector continued to perform strongly in 2006 with the staging of some 218 conventions and 78 exhibitions, attracting more than 779 000 international visitors, surpassing the previous year. The year's big events included the Pacific Asia Travel Association Travel Mart and the ITU TELECOM WORLD 2006, with the latter bringing some 11 400 visitors to Hong Kong. The HKTB, working closely with overseas business communities, continues to promote Hong Kong around the world as an ideal place for corporate meetings and incentives destination. Some 828 000 international visitors attended such events in Hong Kong in 2006. To encourage international groups to choose Hong Kong for their meetings, the HKTB launched a worldwide convention programme called 'Hong Kong — Meeting Your Choice', offering special privileges to convention organisers.

Cruise travel is another important, high-yield sector of the tourism industry. Hong Kong is a popular port for international cruise vessels.

More than 411 000 cruise travellers visited Hong Kong in 2006, a rise of 26.9 per cent over 2005. The number of cruise ships that called at Hong Kong in 2006 was 44, a 45 per cent increase over the previous year. They included three calls from a mega cruise vessel, each of which carried more than 2 600 passengers and 1 100 crew members.

The Government announced in October 2006 the development of a new cruise terminal at the tip of the former Kai Tak runway, with the first berth to be commissioned by 2012.