Hong Kong Tourism Board welcomes extension of Individual Visit Scheme for Mainland China residents

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has said it warmly welcomes the extension of the Individual Visit Scheme for Mainland China residents to the entire Guangdong Province with effect from 1 May and to nine cities in Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces with effect from 1 July. According to the Board's Chairman, The Hon Mrs Selina Chow, GBS, OBE, JP, the extension will increase the growth momentum of the Mainland market. 

"The Guangdong Province has all along been Hong Kong's major inbound source region, given that the majority of Mainland arrivals come from the Province. With the extension of the Individual Visit Scheme to the entire Province from 1 May, more Mainland visitors will be able to visit Hong Kong flexibly, thereby reducing the congestion during the peak arrival periods such as the Labour Day and National Day Golden Week holidays. These visitors are our targets in developing the event, family and weekend travel segments. Capitalising on the extension, we will actively develop further business opportunities through close co-operation with the travel trade," Mrs Chow said.

The HKTB has recently completed a China outbound travel research study to identify the major source regions and consumer segments and develop appropriate marketing strategies for the Mainland. "The nine Mainland cities included in the extension on 1 July, which are located in the Yangtze River Delta and South China region, are in line with our target regions," Mrs Chow said. "Among them, Xiamen and Fuzhou have close connections with Hong Kong whereas residents of Wuxi, Hangzhou and Nanjing, major industrial cities of Eastern China, have high levels of knowledge of the city. As such, they are considered to have the highest development potential."

The HKTB has been laying the groundwork for welcoming the individual visitors from these cities. By utilising the additional Government funding included in this fiscal year, the Board will strengthen publicity for individual visits in these cities; increase the dissemination of travel information; and enhance residents' knowledge of Hong Kong to enable them to plan their itineraries.

To reinforce publicity for individual visits to Hong Kong, the HKTB will maximise the media coverage and exposure of the city through the "Hong Kong - Live it, Love it!" advertising campaign and familiarisation visits. Plans are in hand to produce video programmes on the attractions of Hong Kong, which will be screened in the high growth and primary cities to increase customers' knowledge of the city's diversity and sophistication. In addition, the Board will step up its promotions on the Quality Tourism Services (QTS) scheme, highlighting the protection and assurances for visitors so as to strengthen Hong Kong's quality service position. Furthermore, the Board will expand its network with the travel trade and media in the high growth and potential cities and collaborate with them in developing and promoting special packages.

Starting from 1 May, the Individual Visit Scheme will be expanded to the remaining seven cities of Guangdong Province, namely Yangjiang, Maoming, Zhanjiang, Shaoguan, Jeiyang, Shanwei and Heyuan, which have 31 million resident permit holders. With effect from 1 July, the Scheme will further be extended to include nine Mainland cities outside Guangdong Province. These are Fuzhou, Xiamen and Quanzhou of Fujian Province; Nanjing, Suzhou and Wuxi of Jiangsu Province; and Hangzhou, Ningbo and Taizhou of Zhejiang Province. Altogether 43 million resident permit holders in these nine cities will be eligible to apply for endorsements under the Scheme.