Dr YK Pang, Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), welcomed the additional funding for the HKTB announced in the 2021/22 Budget. “The COVID-19 pandemic has brought global tourism to a standstill for over a year,” he said. “Regional competition for visitors is expected to be fiercer than ever. The HKTB must therefore step up promotions in source markets to maintain Hong Kong’s competitiveness.”

“The HKTB has formulated short- and medium-to-long-term strategies”, he added. “In addition to its continuous efforts to enhance the local atmosphere and support the travel trade, the HKTB’s goal is to encourage visitors to choose Hong Kong as their first destination when cross-border travel resumes. Looking ahead, we will reinvent the city’s tourism brand and captivate the high-yield visitor segments. Since the Government has started the large-scale COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, we hope the public will actively participate in the Programme, so that the tourism industry can recover from the pandemic as soon as possible.”

There will be three main focuses for the additional funding, initially as follows:

Short-term strategies

·         Cheerlead and boost domestic consumption to support the local trade.

·         Organise large-scale promotions to drive industry recovery when cross-border travel resumes.

Medium-to-long-term strategy

·         Conduct a holistic review of the Hong Kong tourism brand to reinvent Hong Kong’s tourism image and captivate high-yield visitor segments.

Ongoing works

·         Enhance the subsidy schemes and sponsor trade members’ participation in trade events to speed up business recovery.

·         Organise and support mega events to maintain Hong Kong’s international exposure. Planning for the above is in progress and details will be announced in due course.