Sustainability of Hong Kong Tourism
In addition to driving tourism recovery, promoting Hong Kong as a world-class tourism destination and maximising contribution of tourism to Hong Kong, HKTB also strived to foster the sustainable development of the industry by deepening the connection between tourism and the local community, especially the younger generations, to increase their understanding and interests in the industry, with a view to attracting more young talents to join and inject new momentum into the industry in the long run.
Therefore, HKTB brought together the younger generations and tourism through a series of innovative educational and community activities, such as the first-ever tourism industry student summit, to encourage the youth to brainstorm new ideas for enhancing the city’s tourism assets, hence showcasing the unique Hong Kong culture.
Inspiring genuine interests among the youth
In 2022, HKTB launched the HKTB Youth Academy programme. With the idea of “We Learn, We Create, We Share”, HKTB encourages young people to reach out to the community and learn about Hong Kong through educational, experiential and creative activities, as well as to use their innovation and imagination to inject new momentum into the tourism industry.
West Kowloon from youthful perspectives
Riding on the Arts in Hong Kong promotion in May 2022, HKTB Youth Academy, in collaboration with the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts of The Hong Kong University of Education, organised the first community arts and cultural exhibition Journey to West Kowloon to showcase the authentic local culture in the community from a young perspective and to promote in-depth arts and cultural tourism in West Kowloon.
The HKTB Youth Academy organised a series of art workshops for community organisations of different backgrounds, including the underprivileged and ethnic minority students, to enable them to understand the process of art creation and at the same time broaden their horizons to gain a deeper understanding of the community in which they live.
At the same time, the exhibition created a platform for participating young artists to showcase their works, increase exposure and open up potential collaboration opportunities, serving as a stepping stone for them to realise their future dreams.
In March 2023, the HKTB organised the second community art exhibition in partnership with the School of Creative Media of the City University of Hong Kong, presenting unique digital artworks that led viewers into various neighbourhoods including West Kowloon, Sham Shui Po and Central from the perspectives of the young filmmakers. In addition to immersive art experiences, the event also offers free handicraft workshops of paper lantern, personalised tote bags and postcards for three consecutive weekends, allowing participants to enjoy traditional craftmanship and learn more about authentic local culture.
Becoming a tour guide
As the summer holidays approached, HKTB launched a virtual tour guide training programme for students of the Hong Kong Baptist University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to gain a better understanding of the tourism appeal of the West Kowloon neighbourhood. During the one-month programme, HKTB provided a series of training workshops, field trips and rehearsals, to equip students with all-rounded skills, ranging from itinerary planning, presentation script writing to tour guiding skills.
The student tour guides then put their learning into practice and conducted the virtual tours for exchange students from a total of 26 regions, including students from Mainland China, Taiwan and overseas.
The First-ever Hong Kong Tourism Industry Student Summit
In July 2022, the HKTB Youth Academy and the Education Bureau jointly organised a student seminar for secondary DSE students of Tourism and Hospitality Studies (THS). Following the seminar is an annual event of the HKTB Youth Academy, with the HKTB Youth Academy and the Education Bureau jointly hosting the first-ever Hong Kong Tourism Industry Student Summit for THS students and teachers, which attracted more than 1,400 students from 66 secondary schools, or one-third of the total number of schools in Hong Kong, to take part in this event.
The two-day Student Summit was themed on cultural tourism, in line with the National 14th Five-Year Plan’s support for Hong Kong to become a East-meets-West Centre for international cultural exchange, while addressing the new tourism trend of immersive and in-depth tours.
HKTB invited three experts from different sectors of the tourism industry, including Mr Paul Chan, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Walk-in Hong Kong, a local cultural tourism start-up; Ms Melanie Kwok, Head of Sustainability, Sino Group and Tai O Heritage Hotel; and Mr Brian Yuen, Deputy Director, Museum Operations of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, to deliver keynote speeches. The keynote speeches were aimed at sharing how to create an engaging cultural experience for travellers in terms of itineraries, hotels and attractions. The sharing not only connected the students with leaders in the industry but also enabled them to understand how different tourism-related sectors work and operate together to deliver a meaningful experience to visitors.
Participating students then presented the results of their studies through a project learning and case competition in a sharing sessions on specific tourism issues, including planning cultural tours, designing hotel accommodation programmes for specific visitor segments, and conceiving cultural activities for tourist attractions. Students who came up with the best plans with exceptional ideas were awarded with book coupons, trophies and certificates.
HKTB will continue to organise various activities to strengthen the connection between young people, the community and the tourism industry, and encourage them to use their innovative thinking and imagination for the sustainable development of the tourism industry.
