HKTB aims to boost Tourism Spending to HK$114 Billion with Discover Hong Kong campaign

At the “Discover the Hong Kong Magic” tourism promotion held in Bangkok, Thailand recently, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Chairman The Hon Mrs Selina Chow, GBS, OBE, JP announced to the travel industry members and media that HKTB will implement the 2006 Discover Hong Kong Year campaign; further develop the family and business traveller segments, including young executives; and strengthen the promotion of the Quality Tourism Services (QTS) scheme.

Mrs Chow elaborated that with several new infrastructure projects, including Hong Kong Disneyland, Hong Kong Wetland Park and Tung Chung Cable Car coming on stream in late 2005 and early 2006, the worldwide Discover Hong Kong Year campaign would package these new products with Hong Kong’s existing attractions, presenting an array of multi-dimensional offerings that will appeal to visitors from all the key markets and segments, and creating a new image for the city as one of the world’s “hottest”, must-visit destinations. She said that the Board forecast that the Discover Hong Kong Year campaign would bring total arrivals in 2006 to a new record. “We expect that total visitor arrivals will reach 27.14 million,” she said. “At the same time, the total tourism expenditure will exceed the HK$100 billion mark to reach HK$114.7 billion.”

“We will promote Hong Kong aggressively in the next two years, attract more arrivals and extend visitors’ length of stay. Funded by a budget of HK$470 million, our new Discover Hong Kong Year campaign is expected to bring 1.2 million visitors and 2 million visitor nights additional to the HKTB’s original growth forecast,” she remarked.

“It will also help generate an additional HK$10 billion tourism spending, meaning that for every dollar of the Government’s investment, the HKTB will achieve 20 in return.

“We expect that our promotional activities for the Discover Hong Kong Year, which will start from the second half of 2005 onwards, will also have a positive impact on 2005 arrivals,” Mrs Chow added. “We have therefore revised our previously announced 2005 target from 22.9 to 23.41 million and the total tourism expenditure to HK$97.8 billion.”

The Discover Hong Kong Year campaign capitalises on the strong interest in Asia and China in the global tourism market. Thailand is one of several high-growth regional markets that the Board will prioritise during the campaign. In 2004, arrivals from Thailand reached almost 317,000, while first-quarter arrivals in 2005 were 38% higher than for the same period last year. With Thailand’s GDP projected to grow by 5.8% this year, HKTB is confident that this robust performance can be maintained into 2006, and it will continue to work closely with the Thai travel trade and media to make Hong Kong the hottest, “must-visit” destination on Thailand’s itinerary.

2006 Discover Hong Kong Year

HKTB Executive Director Clara Chong said that the Board’s promotions in the coming two years would take the tourism industry’s performance in 2006 to new heights. “We expect that visitors arrivals and spending will increase by 16% and 17% respectively, creating more employment opportunities and an even greater economic contribution to Hong Kong.”

The new attractions will provide the travel trade with fresh impetus to package new and creative itineraries. One example is packaging the Wetland Park with other green tourism assets, such as the 70 walking trails, more than 260 islands and Hong Kong’s unique “pink” dolphins. Another is to market the new Tung Chung Cable Car and Heart Sutra with existing Lantau attractions, such as the Giant Buddha and Po Lin Monastery, to showcase the city’s 6,000 years of culture and heritage. In the past two years, the HKTB has organised successful Mega Events to reinforce Hong Kong’s core strengths. Surveys by the HKTB show that 89% of visitors who participated in these events have a high tendency to return for similar events, and 92% will recommend Hong Kong to friends and relatives. Making use of the additional funding, the Board will inject new elements into these signature events, and organise two more Mega Events themed around culture and heritage in 2006 to further enhance the visitor experience.

Develop High-Yield Segments

In planning its strategic global promotions, the HKTB has identified the high-yield and high-growth family and business travellers, including young executives, as its key target segments. 

Surveys by the HKTB show that 36% of overnight vacation visitors have young children, but that only 24% bring them along when visiting Hong Kong. These results indicate that the family segment has tremendous growth potential. To maximise this opportunity, the HKTB will target its Mega Event promotions at the family segment. It will also work closely with the travel trade to develop family-friendly itineraries and value-added offers. The opening of Disneyland will offer new opportunities to package creatively family-oriented attractions, such as Ocean Park, the Peak Tram and museums, to entice family groups.

As for the business travel segment, about 3.41 million business travellers come to Hong Kong every year. Taking into account the needs of these visitors, the HKTB will provide them with comprehensive and suitable travel information. By encouraging them to participate in more leisure activities and bring their families, the Board aims to extend their stay and spending. 

Currently, about one-third of business travellers come to Hong Kong for conventions, exhibitions, incentives and meetings. The city’s attractive new venues offer great opportunity to develop this segment further. Twenty new exhibitions have already been confirmed for AsiaWorld-Expo, due to open at the end of this year. The opening of Hong Kong Disneyland will further provide enticing new themed venues for incentives and corporate events. Leveraging on these developments, the HKTB will work closely with organisers of meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions so as to bring more business events and travellers to Hong Kong.

Research has shown that both long-haul and business visitors have a strong interest in traditional festivities. The HKTB will tailor its Mega Event promotions for these visitors. The two new Mega Events themed around Hong Kong’s unique culture and heritage in 2006 should add further appeal in long-haul markets and Japan, the major sources of business travellers.

Quality Tourism Services Scheme

The HKTB said it will further strengthen its promotion of the QTS scheme. This year, the Board aims to increase the number of accredited merchant outlets by 20% to 6,000. It will also examine the feasibility of extending the scheme to other tourism-related sectors.

Promotions and Publicity

The Hong Kong – Live it, Love it! advertising campaign has already created a successful marketing platform for Hong Kong. The HKTB will build the Discover Hong Kong Year campaign around the Hong Kong – Live it, Love it! theme. Together with a series of new products, offers and tactical promotions, this short-term campaign aims to instil a sense of urgency to travel to Hong Kong in 2006. 

As a start, the HKTB will promote the campaign to the international travel trade in a hope to convince them that there is no better time to visit Hong Kong than 2006, to drive them to package and promote creative itineraries. Leading the promotional activities is a three-day trade familiarisation visit in May 2005. This major initiative will offer an excellent opportunity to introduce the Discover Hong Kong Year campaign and Hong Kong’s latest attractions – and especially its green products – to leaders of media and trade organisations from around the world. It will also provide a fresh impetus for the travel trade to package new and more creative itineraries.

On the consumer promotional front, the HKTB will aggressively pursue the campaign globally. Through advertising, roadshows, direct mail and promotions with the travel trade, the Board said it will bring Discover Hong Kong Year to every corner of the world.

In terms of public relations activities, the HKTB is planning to invite more than 1,500 media representatives from major markets to visit Hong Kong and produce special features and TV broadcasts on Discover Hong Kong Year. Co-operative programmes with local media to solicit the community’s support for the campaign are also at the planning stage.

Another major objective of staging the Discover Hong Kong Year campaign is to create a business platform for tourism-related sectors. The HKTB will continue to co-operate with shopping and dining merchants to introduce special privileges and offers during Mega Event periods so as to stimulate visitor spending. The Board also plans to collaborate with the Government on programmes to foster Hong Kong’s hospitality culture and will strengthen its meet-and-greet services at entry points.

Ms Chong said that the HK$470 million of additional funding would lead Hong Kong’s tourism to record-breaking performance in 2006. “Our industry is set to embrace a bright future with many exciting new offerings in terms of tourism products and services,” she said. “The Discover Hong Kong Year campaign will ensure that travellers come and discover the uniquely diverse and sophisticated experiences in Hong Kong in 2006.”

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