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| COVER STORY
August 2001 Issue
On April 1, 2001, the Hong Kong Tourism Association changed its name to the Hong Kong Tourism Board and simultaneously unveiled its latest campaign, 'City of Life: Hong Kong Is It!'The name change better reflects its mission of promoting the entire tourism industry, rather than being an association of members, while the new campaign aims to promote the whole of Hong Kong, instead of the same old tired tourism spots. The campaign, which will start in September and run through February 2003, promotes all the 18 districts of Hong Kong and is designed to get visitors out of the Central and Tsim Sha Tsui tourist corridor.  "This is really an all encompassing type of campaign which
incorporates different events and features to suit the different market segments' needs and wants,"
Hong Kong Tourism Board Executive Director Clara Chong
said. "It is about revealing
the hidden treasures of the 18 districts; adding depth to Hong Kong's heritage and culture and at the same time extending the breadth
and depth of visitors' experiences."
Five major events will run concurrently with the programme highlighting shopping, dining, cultural and heritage - Hong Kong Lights, International Tourism Parade, Hong Kong Flower Extravaganza, Sale of the New Century, and City of Life Street Carnival. Co-ordinating all this will be a logistical nightmare. Rather than having 18 groups of different municipal politicians running around Hong Kong promoting their districts, the HKTB will focus on a specific district and market it as a recommendation of the month.  "We need to do a very serious screening
process because we are not trying to introduce everything to the tourists, which would be
very confusing but would not achieve anything," Ms Chong said.
The first district to be promoted has been christened 'Yau Tsim Mong' - Ya Ma Tei, Tsim Sha Tsui, and Mong Kong. The HKTB said it is already working closely with the district offices to identify some key events happening in September. Though well-worn tourist areas, Ms Chong said the HKTB is trying to add something new to these areas, such as opening the clock tower in Tsim Sha Tsui so that visitors can go inside the tower.HKTB 's budget will only cover part of the cost of promoting the campaign. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charity Trust has donated about HK$24 million to kick-start the programme, but each of the events will also solicit sponsors. Targeting specific marketsThe HKTB in the past has been successful in targeting its promotions to specific markets - seniors, young office ladies, etc. - and this strategy will continue to be promoted with the City of Life: Hong Kong Is It! campaign, Ms Chong said. Traditionally a high-yield market, the long-haul market accounts for about 23 per cent of all arrivals to the territory, yet eats up about half of HKTB 's resources.Mainland China, by comparison, offers immediate and huge potential as the Mainland's increasingly affluent citizens desire to travel. But in some respects, it is a market that is taken for granted and Hong Kong could lose out completely to neighbouring countries if it doesn't do more to ease entry into the territory. "I think our share of the market for the Mainland is not growing. Because there are more and more markets opening for the Mainland, there are more options for people to choose from," she said. "If we don't welcome Mainland visitors then they have many options to choose from. The question is do we want those tourism receipts? If we do we'd better stop discriminating."
The average length of stay for visitors to Hong Kong last year was 2.7 nights, compared to 2.9 nights in 1999 and 3.1 nights in 1998. From January to May this year, 35.1 per cent of all arrivals were same-day visitors. The Taiwanese, many off whom use Hong Kong as a jumping off point to do a bit of shopping on their way back from the Mainland, were the biggest same-day arrivals. Some 75.2 per cent of the 1.003 million Taiwanese arrivals to Hong Kong were same-day visitors.
Ms Chong doesn 't believe that the answer to that is continually coming up with new attractions. "I would say you can never have enough new attractions," she said.Instead, Hong Kong must understanding the needs and wants from customers to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses. |
The
passing of the Travel Agents (Amendment) Bill 2001, which protects inbound tourists, will
help eliminate shoddy tours and improve the inbound market as a whole, especially the
Mainland market which has had more than its fare share of substandard tours. 
Ms Chong
said sorter stays is a trend not unique to Hong Kong. With people having less and less
leisure time, they are increasingly going for shorter, but more frequent breaks. | About HKGCC | Member Services | Join Us | Contact Us | Advertising | Jobs |
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