Hong Kong's WinterFest to take place between 26 November to 2 January

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is to stage its Hong Kong WinterFest programme for the third consecutive year from 26 November 2004 to 2 January 2005. The Board expects that the programme will boost visitor arrivals by 13.4% to 2.49 million during the five-week period.

At a press conference to announce the event details today, HKTB Executive Director Clara Chong said that visitor arrivals for the first nine months of 2004 had already surpassed those recorded for the entire 12 months of 2003. “With the added appeal of Hong Kong WinterFest, we are confident that the growth momentum will continue through the last quarter of the year,” she said. “We have therefore revised our forecast for 2004 from 20.5 million to 21.3 million.

“The WinterFest programme has enjoyed phenomenal success in the past two years. Last year, it attracted almost 2.2 million visitors during the five-week event period, 8% more than in 2002. As well as helping us set new monthly records for December, it has successfully turned our winter festive season, which normally has fewer business and long-haul visitors, into another peak travel season,” Ms Chong explained.

To promote Hong Kong’s multi-dimensional attractions to more visitor segments, notably couples, families and lovers of shopping and dining, the HKTB will introduce even more enticing elements around the theme of ‘Love and Care’ this year. “Leveraging on the Christmas spirit of love and care, we will add more family-friendly elements, which will help us reinforce Hong Kong’s reputation as a family destination and pave way for the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland,” Ms Chong added.

This year, the HKTB will transform Statue Square in Hong Kong’s central business district into a Nordic Santa’s Town. In addition, there will be Hong Kong’s highest outdoor Dazzling Christmas Tree and a romantic Mistletoe Boulevard in the vicinity.

Santa’s Town follows concept of Lapland

To transform Statue Square into a fairytale Santa’s Town, the HKTB will follow the concept of Lapland or Santa’s Land in Finland and add to it unique Hong Kong elements. ‘Santa’s Town’ will project the picturesque atmosphere of a European Christmas with its various themed settings, including a Snowy Chapel, Santa’s Lodge, Santa’s Post Office, Santa’s Workshop and Charity Corner.

At the Snowy Chapel, visitors will be able to see snowflakes float through the air in the sub-tropical city on special dates. The romantic Chapel will be the centre stage for the launch ceremony and performances by local and overseas groups, including the internationally acclaimed Winchester College Chapel Choir from the UK. During weekends and festive days, there will be carol singing and traditional cultural performances.

For families, there will be a number of interactive elements in Santa’s Lodge. Between 6:00 pm and 11:00 pm every night, visitors and local residents can meet Santa Claus and have their pictures taken with him. Following that, they can print out the photographs in their digital cameras on Hong Kong WinterFest photo paper. For the children, they can put their name on Santa’s gift list in the hope that they may receive a gift from Father Christmas.

The wish-making elements will also be reinforced, given that Christmas is traditionally a time for sending good wishes to friends and relatives and that the wish-making ‘Christmas Tree’ has been extremely popular in the past two years. This year, the public can write down their wishes to their families and friends at Santa’s Post Office. They can also send their messages through mobile SMS and the internet for display on the LED board. Alternatively, they can hang their wishing tags on the 7-foot tall wish-making Christmas trees around Santa’s Town. With over 300 trees, Santa’s Town is believed to have the biggest cluster of wish-making Christmas trees in Hong Kong.

The HKTB plans to promote the wish-making element across the city. Besides arranging wish-making Christmas trees and ‘wishing corners’ in participating malls, department stores and food districts, the Board will encourage participating restaurants to set up ‘wishing corners’ to enable customers to make their wishes. Visitors and local residents can also hang their wishing cards on some 30 wish-making Christmas trees erected on the Avenue of Stars.

To appeal to family travellers, there will be Santa’s Workshop. During weekends and public holidays, children can take part in bakery classes and prepare Christmas goodies such as gingerbread and cookies. Coinciding with the theme of ‘Love and Care’, there will be a Charity Corner selling Christmas merchandise to raise funds for the ‘Make A Wish Foundation’.

Hong Kong’s tallest outdoor Christmas tree dazzles spectators

As in the past two years, the centrepiece of the decorations will be Hong Kong’s tallest outdoor Dazzling Christmas Tree, a colourful addition to the city’s magnificent harbourfront and festive skyline. This 35-metre, 12-storey-tall Christmas tree is designed by renowned experts overseas, one of whom has previously worked on Christmas decorations in the White House.

To showcase Hong Kong’s internationalism and unique appeal, the tree will be decorated with over 270,000 amber and white pin lights, the largest number ever used on such a tree in the city. It will also feature 2,300 pine cones; 5,800 yards of gold ribbon; and traditional garlands and ornaments in red and gold. Below the tree will be a giant mechanical music box. Together with other smaller music boxes in Santa’s Town, it will offer a sound and light performance featuring colourful lighting effects and festive tunes every 30 minutes between 6:00 pm and 11:00 pm nightly.

Mistletoe Boulevard fosters love and romance

Another enticing new element that highlights the theme of ‘Love and Care’ will be the Mistletoe Boulevard that runs from the ‘Star’ Ferry Pier through the covered walkway and pedestrian tunnel to Statue Square. This will be the first time that mistletoe - a traditional Christmas decoration in the West – has been used for a themed setting in Hong Kong. By introducing the Western custom of exchanging a kiss under the mistletoe, the HKTB hopes to foster love and friendship, making this festive season even more romantic.

In addition to the attractive elements in Statue Square, the HKTB will package a wide variety of activities staged by other organisations during the WinterFest period, which promise visitors a memorable holiday. These include the 29th Hong Kong Products Expo in Victoria Park; the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s ‘Horses Across Hong Kong’ and International Races on 12 December; ‘Christmas Sensation’ by Ocean Park and the New Year Countdown Carnival. Between 26 and 28 November, special pyrotechnics will be added to A Symphony of Lights to celebrate the launch of Hong Kong WinterFest.

Local merchants offer strong support

In conjunction with Hong Kong WinterFest, over 2,900 merchants and restaurants have already agreed to offer visitors discounts and special privileges. The HKTB is confident that the number will exceed 3,000. Details are included in the Hong Kong WinterFest Activities Guide and Hong Kong WinterFest Passport to Amazing Offers, which will be distributed at HKTB Visitor Information and Services Centres and various entry points.

Besides these special offers and privileges, award-winning restaurants of the Best of the Best Culinary Awards and those in renowned food districts will design special visitor menus. Ms Chong encouraged more merchants to take part in Hong Kong WinterFest and provide visitors with an unforgettable culinary and shopping experience. “As well as offering our tourism-related sectors a valuable business platform, the programme will stimulate visitor spending and thus contribute to Hong Kong’s economy,” she said.

Through its worldwide offices, the HKTB is actively promoting the programme. Travel trade partners in Canada, Japan, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, Taiwan and various provinces of Mainland China have already indicated strong interest in developing special WinterFest packages to attract more visitors. During the event period, the HKTB will also invite international media and trade representatives to Hong Kong.

See other recent news from: Hong Kong Tourism Board