Annual Report 2023/24
Chairman’s Message & ED's Statement
- Chairman’s Message
- Executive Director’s Statement
Mega events not only showcase Hong
Kong’s appeal and competitive edges but
also create more exciting experiences for
visitors from around the world, thereby
contributing to the economic receipts of
travel, hotel, food & beverage, retail and
other tourism-related sectors while elevating
Hong Kong’s international image.
Upholding Hong Kong as the “Events
Capital of Asia”, HKTB continuously organises,
supports and promotes mega events, and
acts as the “first point of contact” in
coordinating with the Government on
bringing in and staging mega events, with
a view to driving the economy.
In addition, HKTB also
continuously creates
and enhances visitors’
experience in-town with
various offers, leveraging
the city’s unique
elements of arts and
culture, gastronomy,
outdoor resources.
With the support of the Government, HKTB staged seven
flagship events in 2022/23, including events of sports, culture,
festivity, gastronomy and other diverse experiences. The
flagship events were greatly enjoyed by both locals and visitors.
In addition to fostering a
positive overall city ambience, the
events also stimulated the economy and reinforced the city as
the “Events Capital of Asia”.
The Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races returned to Victoria Harbour in mid-June after four years, adding boundless vibrancy to traditional culture while showcasing Hong Kong’s unique festivity. For the first time, the 2-day Races offered cash prize to winners of five major games to hype up the game, which attracted more than 4,000 athletes from 10 countries and regions to participate.
The event also erected a series of festival-limited, photo-worthy thematic cartoon installations along the Avenue of Stars for the first time. Restaurants in East Tsim Sha Tsui also offered various discounts and deals to the locals and visitors, kicking off the happy summer with joy and celebrations.
The Hong Kong International Dragon Boat Races was the first international mega sports event organised by HKTB since Hong Kong fully reopened its tourism doors. To attract Mainland travellers to visit Hong Kong first and experience Hong Kong’s summer vibes, HKTB partnered with Mainland travel agency, Tuniu to launch thematic travel products featuring the Races with Early Bird Special Offers, leveraging Tuniu’s extensive member database to launch comprehensive promotions.
In addition, HKTB partnered with the online platform of Mainland media People’s Daily to produce videos for publishing on Weibo, Douyin and other Mainland social platforms to promote the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Championship” and the “Hong Kong-Macao Trophy”, a brand-new race jointly organised by Hong Kong and Macao”, to introduce these exciting highlights of the event to Mainland audiences.
A spectator area was set up at the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront to share the excitement with the public. To attract locals to watch the game on site, HKTB arranged various publicity before the races with local media, interviewing local dragon boat team members on how they prepared for the races and sharing rarely known fun facts about dragon boat racing to pique the public’s interest. The 2-day races attracted about 120,000 spectators, enlivening the event excitement.
In addition the traditional dragon boat races, the popular and fun-filled “Fancy Dress Competition” returned to add a light-hearted touch to the intense championship. Moreover, this year, HKTB also erected a series of LINE FRIENDS Hello Hong Kong installations around the Avenue of Stars during event period to attract family segments, expanding the target segments from traditional dragon boat racing lovers.
Victoria Harbour is not only the treasure of the locals but also a popular tourist spot. Following the commission of various optimisation projects along the Harbour and to showcase the new façade of Victoria Harbour, HKTB launched a new event “Harbour Chill Carnival” to show the locals and visitors a brand new harbour experience.
Being one of the Government’s initiatives under “Happy Hong Kong”, the Harbour Chill Carnival is the first large-scale sea-and-land carnival in the Wan Chai harbourfront. The carnival was held throughout five consecutive weekends in July and August and spanned across 30,000 square metres with the scenic Victoria Harbour as backdrop. The carnival presented a series of exciting experiences including street performances, music shows in the harbour and adrenaline-pumping X-game performances.
Among the programmes, the Music Shows in the Harbour featured 40 performing groups from Hong Kong and various Asia markets, offering diverse music experiences in pop, rock, electronic dance music and more. The HKTB distributed the music show tickets for free in phases to the public, and all tickets were claimed soon after the release. The Music Show attracted crowds of audience on-site, including visitors.
The X-game performances invited BMX athletes and skateboarders from the Mainland, Hong Kong and Japan to showcase their challenging skills and amazed the crowds with their technical stunts.
A food and beverage area was set up next to the X-game arcade. Participants enjoyed chilled beers and various award-winning local tastes in the alfresco area, soaking up the summer vibes in the Victoria Harbour sunset.
In the evening of each event day, HKTB staged a special edition of A Symphony of Lights with special waterfront pyrotechnic display. Many viewers secured their spot in advance to enjoy the visual extravaganza. According to HKTB’s survey, the Hong Kong Harbour Chill Carnival received great responses and attracted about 200,000 participants.
HKTB also promoted the Carnival on its official website, social media platforms and worldwide offices, including inviting media from visitor source markets to join the Carnival in person. HKTB also partnered with influencers and distributed tickets to travel trade partners to encourage them to offer event-related tourism products to showcase Hong Kong’s summer vibrancy and maximised the publicity effect of the event to visitors.
As an annual mega event of the local cycling scene, the Hong Kong Cyclothon returned in October 2023 with seven rides and races, including the world-class UCI1.1 Road Race, attracting about 5,000 professional athletes and cycling aficionados to experience the time-limited experience of dashing across Hong Kong’s urban cityscape.
This year’s event was full of international elements. The non-competitive 50-kilometre route travelled through six districts and across three tunnels and three bridges, allowing locals and visiting cyclists to enjoy Hong Kong’s stunning scenery while travelling through sports. Moreover, the international UCI 1.1 Road Race attracted nearly 100 professional riders from 15 cycling teams from Australia, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand, the Mainland, Hong Kong and more to take part in a world-class race in the urban city.
Prior to the race, HKTB also interviewed a local former e-sport rider to share her stories of how she made it to the international level starting as an e-sport cyclist, while promoting Hong Kong’s sports tourism experience.
To better promote Hong Kong’s sports tourism, HKTB invited two young idols from the Mainland to participate in the event. Zeng Mengxue, a cycling enthusiast, took part in the 30-kilometre category to share her experiences with Hong Kong’s unique cycling landscape. Another young actor, Fei Qiming, not only live-streamed the event, but also made a short video sharing his experiences of surfing in Sai Kung and jogging on the Peak, demonstrating Hong Kong’s rich outdoor sports resources from an all-round perspective.
After five years, the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival returns to the Central harbourfront at the end of October, bringing a colourful atmosphere to Hong Kong’s nightlife.
The Wine & Dine Festival this year featured around 300 wine and food stalls, showcasing the finest wines from 36 countries and regions, including Bordeaux and Burgundy, France, and Italy, as well as global cuisines from 17 countries and regions. The highlights of the event included a Chinese winery whose produce once hosted the President of France, and delicacies from the Greater Bay Area, which attracted substantial media coverage.
HKTB also invited a number of renowned chefs and food
experts from the Greater Bay Area to visit Hong Kong
during the Wine & Dine Festival, and arranged for them to
explore different cuisines in Hong Kong. The guests
shared their travel experiences on social media platforms
and successfully reached out to 49 million users.
As the event coincided with
the western celebration of
Halloween, HKTB encouraged attendees to dress up in
spooky costumes, driving cultural exchange with gastronomy
as a platform.
As the first physical edition after the pandemic, many local food and wine lovers keenly anticipated for the return of the event. As such, HKTB collaborated with major local media organisations to give away the Tasting Passes. The media organisations promote the event with a simple quiz game to arouse the public’s interest towards the event and encourage them to participate in the evening gastronomic celebration. Through encouraging local participation, HKTB hoped to enhance the night-time ambience in the city while stimulating consumption.
The four-day event attracted about 140,000 participants, including visitors from nearly 20 countries and regions, including the Mainland, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, and many of them visited Hong Kong and stayed overnight specifically for the event. The Wine & Dine Festival received extensive media coverage and generated HK$114 million in global publicity, while participating locals and tourists alike have commented that the event added fun and vibrancy to Hong Kong’s nightlife.
To extend the gastronomic culture across the city, HKTB teamed up with 400 restaurants and bars and rolled out “Taste Around Town” in November, offering a wide spectrum of wine and dine experiences to consumers. A whole new programme “Hong Kong Bar Show” enlisted about 60 bars in town to offer unique cocktails with a Hong Kong touch paired with snacks made with local ingredients. Participating bars include award winners of Asia’s 50 Best Bars to encourage the public to explore Hong Kong’s bar scene. In addition, the popular “Chinese Master Chefs’ Curation” made a comeback with a stronger line-up of more celebrity chefs. Together with a series of thematic promotions such as “Chill E.A.T.” and “Sip & Savour in LKF”, the “Taste Around Town” promotion encouraged both locals and visitors to fully immerse themselves in Hong Kong’s city-wide gastronomic experience.
Hong Kong has always been the Asian city with the best Christmas ambience. Starting from mid-November, HKTB organised the Hong Kong WinterFest in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD). In addition to a 20-metre Christmas tree and Christmas town, HKTB also incorporated Pyrotechnics display in the Harbour to the WinterFest for the first time. For three consecutive weekends and during the Christmas holidays, Victoria Harbour was lit up with a number of festive pyrotechnics patterns, adding sparkle to the glamorous night sky. The event attracted a total of 1.2 million visitors, making it one of the highlights of Hong Kong in winter.
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Many travellers from the Mainland came to Hong Kong to
experience the winter festivity. HKTB co-operated with the
Mainland social media, Douyin and invited different photography
and travel Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) to create engaging
contents to share their experiences on Hong Kong’s festive
winter appeal on the platform. Douyin also launched a
user-generated content challenge to encourage Mainlanders
to visit Hong Kong for Christmas. At the same time, HKTB also
invited different KOLs on Weibo and Xiaohongshu to co-create
social media content to stimulate netisens’ interest in visiting
Hong Kong.
Teaming up with Mainland trade partners, HKTB worked with
Mainland online travel agent Yaochufa for weekend promotions.
Through its e-commerce website, Yaochufa timely launched
different specially curated winter tourism products before the
peak travel time of weekends to draw its members’ attention to
Hong Kong with new products every week as promotion. In
addition to the publicity driven by KOLs on Douyin, HKTB also
rolled out online-offline parallel promotions in cinemas in
Guangzhou and Shenzhen to attract young and family visitors
in the Greater Bay Area to Hong Kong through on-site
promotional booths, souvenir giveaway and photo booths.
HKTB also collaborated with travel agents from Beijing, Tianjin,
Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Dalian, Harbin, Changsha, Wuhan,
Chengdu and Chongqing to promote the event, with a view to
attracting more overnight visitors from the Mainland.
On the first day of the winter pyrotechnics display, HKTB hosted an early Christmas celebration for about 30 children who are beneficiaries of Po Leung Kuk. The kids visited the Christmas Town to admire the giant Christmas tree, met and greeted with Santa Claus, and enjoyed a Christmas feast together. The children also received Christmas presents, including a colouring postcard set with the Victoria Harbour skyline. They shared the feelings on the postcard and worked their creativity. The children also enjoyed pyrotechnics display at the waterfront, with many commenting that the day made a wonderful memory.
HKTB brought back the first New Year Countdown Firework performance on 31 December since travel resumed in Hong Kong, making it the largest and longest countdown firework display in scale and duration. Themed “New Year New Legend”, the extravaganza presented elements of the four season to guide the audiences through a vibrant, lively journey.
This sensorial feast attracted about 480,000 viewers along the coasts of Victoria Harbour. A total of 227,000 arrivals to Hong Kong were recorded on the New Year’s Eve, which was the highest single-day arrival in 2023.
The countdown and the firework performance were also
livestreamed on HKTB’s website, Weibo account, WeChat
channel and Douyin page with interactive chat rooms to
allow friends of Hong Kong in source markets to share the
same countdown experience and welcome the arrival of
the new year together. In addition, HKTB also launched a
year-end review video featuring a wide range of Hong
Kong’s attractions and highlights, which was viewed more
than 7 million times, further reinforcing Hong Kong’s
image as an eventful city among the Mainland audience.
This year, HKTB
collaborated
again with major media
outlets around the world to offer live broadcast of the spectacular views of Victoria
Harbour and the highlights of the
show via satellite; with the celebration covered by a various local and overseas media
to
promote Hong Kong’s unique
New Year vibrancy.
On New Year’s Eve, German cruise ship AIDAbella made an overnight berthing in Hong Kong. More than 2,000 passengers from Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and Bulgaria experienced Hong Kong’s New Year countdown and admired the fireworks display from a close distance. To make the experience a memory of a lifetime, the HKTB organised a Hong Kong-themed party showcasing traditional Chinese arts and crafts and cultural performances for the passengers.
Hong Kong’s most anticipated Chinese New Year celebration, the International Chinese New Year Night Parade, returned to the streets of Tsim Sha Tsui after five years. With the Year of Dragon as the theme, the event featured glamorous floats, together with the largest number of visiting performing teams that any Chinese New Year Night Parade has ever seen, transforming the traditional celebration into an international event that attracted a large number of locals and visitors. Auditorium tickets were instantly sold out when the event was first announced.
The Parade featured 9 floats, 13 local performing teams and 16 international performing teams. Most of the floats are decorated with elements of dragons to send auspicious blessings of improvement and joy to Hong Kong. Local attractions such as Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park Hong Kong also presented the city’s appeal with their floats and performances; a lovely float with cartoon characters from the series Mr. Men and Little Miss, which is popular among children, captured the hearts of both adults and children.
As for the performing teams, a total of 16 Mainland and international teams from 12 countries and regions joined the parade, making the Parade this year the one with the most teams of visiting performers. These included viral Japanese female dance troupe Avantgardey, professional cheerleaders from the United States, Light Dancers from Spain, the Universe of Lights from Germany, ethnic performers from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chamdo, Tibet Autonomous Region, offering a diversified cultural showcase and highlighting Hong Kong’s role as a melting pot of cultures from around the world.
To celebrate the Chinese New Year together with the Hong Kong public and the world, HKTB arranged live broadcast on local TV stations, satellite live shows in mainland and overseas markets, as well as live streaming and replay of the selected highlights on its official platforms. Media from the Mainland, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as long-haul markets such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France and India also covered the event. More than 600 positive media reports were generated in Mainland, connecting the world through the festival. The Chinese New Year Night Parade won the Bronze Prize in “Best Event Production” at the Marketing Events Awards 2024.
For overseas promotions, HKTB introduced the Chinese New Year in the Indian market, sharing fun facts of the festival such as customs and rituals. HKTB also partnered with Tripoto, the most popular travel platform for in India, to blast contents on different Chinese New Year celebrations in Hong Kong on its social media channels, and successfully reached out to 8.2 million users.
As the “Events Capital of Asia”, Hong Kong hosted a wide range of activities and events throughout the year. To enhance the publicity of these events and enrich the experience of visitors and participants in Hong Kong, HKTB supports various events and happenings by different organisers in town. Apart from support during the planning stage, HKTB also works with the organisers to step up publicity and promotions.
Hong Kong’s sports sector has been booming in recent years, attracting many international sports events to stage in Hong Kong. In 2023/24, HKTB enhanced the experience of international sports events by incorporating local elements into the programme of these events, such as dragon and lion dances in the opening ceremonies of the Hong Kong Tennis Opens 2024, Chinese New Year Cup for soccer, and the LIV Golf Hong Kong 2024, which was held in town for the first time. International tennis players were also invited to enjoy the New Year Countdown Celebrations, to allow athletes to experience Hong Kong’s multifaceted appeal alongside the tournaments.
Apart from sports programmes, HKTB also elevated the experience of cultural events in Hong Kong. For instance, in this year’s Clockenflap, a large-scale international outdoor music and arts festival, popular among locals and visitors, HKTB set up a dedicated lounge at the venue to provide participants with an exclusive space to relax and recharge in between performances, thereby enhancing their experiences.
In addition, the Tai Hang Resident’s Welfare Association revived the Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance, which is a national intangible cultural heritage, during Mid-Autumn Festival in September. As an important traditional cultural and tourism asset in Hong Kong, the HKTB Youth Academy arranged for more than 70 non-local university students from the Mainland and 29 countries and regions to experience the traditional fire dragon dance. The visiting students learnt about the making of the Fire Dragon and techniques of the dance, and tried to recreate a simulated fire dragon dance. Nikolas Bradbury Reed, a Spanish student who danced with a simulated fire dragon, exclaimed, “It's unbelievable!” He found Hong Kong’s unique culture, such as traditional festivals, very attractive to tourists; some Mainland students who came to Hong Kong to participate in the event were also eager to share the experience with their friends on WeChat and Xiaohongshu, inviting them to come to Hong Kong to watch the fire dragon dance during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In addition, as HKTB also helped promoted the event in various visitor source markets such as Taiwan and the Mainland, news in these markets also covered the event to raise global audience’s awareness to the traditional culture.
In addition to leisure events, business events such as
Meetings, Incentive Travels, Conventions and Exhibitions
(MICE) events are also an important part of Hong
Kong’s event experience and economy. World-class
MICE events bring high-yield visitors to Hong Kong and drive multi-sector advancement.
While bidding for more large-scale international MICE
events to be hosted in Hong Kong and reinforce Hong
Kong as the “World’s Meeting Place”; in 2023/24, the HKTB
also strived to enhance the MICE visitor experience in
Hong Kong, which hopes to encourage them to return to
Hong Kong in the future, and thereby laying the
foundation to help maximise the direct and indirect benefits of the mega events economy.
According to the 2023 figures, the per-capita spending of overnight MICE visitors was around
HK$8,900, about 30% more than the average overnight visitors. Their average length of stay was
3.7 nights. Mainland visitors account for slightly more than half of the total, while those from the
short-haul and long-haul markets account for about 30% and 20% respectively.
In addition, HKTB continued to leverage
Hong Kong’s role as the MICE hub of the
Greater Bay Area to actively bid for
international MICE events which are from
the Mainland or targeting the Mainland market
to be hosted in Hong Kong, facilitating
Mainland organisers’ understanding of Hong
Kong’s latest developments in the MICE sector
through multiple strategies. HKTB also continued
to encourage small and medium-sized MICE
events to come to Hong Kong through a
series of support and funding schemes, with
a view to diversifying the clientele of the
local MICE industry.
To continue to showcase the city’s unrivalled opportunities and excitements, the HKTB has rolled out a MICE thematic campaign “Hong Kong – Where You Can Achieve More” to step up the promotion reinforcing Hong Kong as the World’s Meeting Place in order to attract more MICE events to be staged in Hong Kong. At the same time, HKTB also strengthened support for MICE event organisers to help attract events and support the local MICE sector by expanding the existing market. For instance, HKTB relaunched the Special Funding Support for Small-sized Corporate Meeting and Convention Groups in 2023/24 to incentivise operators and service providers to attract more diversified MICE events to Hong Kong, thereby opening up opportunities for other MICE-related sectors.
In addition to financial support, HKTB continued to work closely with MICE event organisers and provides them with one-stop professional and comprehensive support. These included accommodation and venue support, promotional strategies, hospitality arrangements and a wide range of professional advice.
In 2023, a total of about 140 major MICE events were held in Hong Kong, many of which are leading events in their respective industries internationally or organised by influential media moguls, covering a wide range of industry in which Hong Kong has a unique special professional edge. These events included Fortune Innovation Forum 2023, The Economist Technology for Change Asia 2023 organised by the leading magazine The Economist, and other top-notch returned trade shows such as Asia Fruit Logistica 2023, Jewellery & Gems WORLD Hong Kong 2023, Cosmoprof Hong Kong 2023. Some first-ever events of their respective sectors such as innovative technology, medical science and finance, also made debut in Hong Kong with our strength in these areas. These included EDGE Global Artificial Intelligence & Web 3 Investment Summit 2023, Asia-Oceania Conference on Obesity 2023, 2023 Congress of the Asian Society of Transplantation and International Congress of Asian Academy of Preventive Dentistry 2023.
Besides MICE events in sectors that highlight Hong Kong’s core strength, HKTB precisely targeted strategies relating to the eight central roles of Hong Kong as stipulated in the “National 14th Five-Year Plan” to further develop MICE tourism. Leveraging our pivotal roles of various professional hubs, HKTB successfully bid for and facilitated the staging of about 70 major international MICE events between January 2023 and March 2024, attracting an estimated 230,000 high-yield visitors to Hong Kong.
These events included SmartCon 2024 and Coindesk Consensus Hong Kong 2025 for the technology sector, Super Terminal Expo 2024 and Routes World 2025 for the aviation sector, and International Society of Radiographers and Radiological Technologists World Congress 2024 and World Congress in Sport Psychology 2025 in the medical sector, 2026 Worldwide Chinese Life Insurance Congress & International Dragon Award in the insurance sector, for instance. These leading, world-class conferences in their respective industries reinforced Hong Kong’s role as a preferred destination of MICE events and proved Hong Kong’s world-class status in the related industries.
To enrich the business travel experience of MICE visitors in Hong Kong, with reference to the schedule of mega events, HKTB arranged various activities for them to enjoy outside of their business itineraries, adding value to their trips with a favourable impression of Hong Kong and thereby promoting the local characteristics. For instance, HKTB offered a special tour to about 100 participants of the 17th Asian Financial Forum, which was held in Hong Kong for the first time. The delegates joined an in-depth sea and land night tour on the traditional Chinese junk Aqua Luna, party tram, open-top bus, exploring Victoria Harbour and various landmarks in Hong Kong. During the staging of WOW Summit Hong Kong 2024 and Fortune Innovation Forum 2024 in March, which coincided with the promotional period of “Arts in Hong Kong”, HKTB arranged for the guests of the two events an immersive experiences of the “Arts in Hong Kong Harbour Tour” and complimentary museum tickets for them to enjoy an enhanced overall destination experience in Hong Kong in addition to their business itinerary.
In addition to securing major international MICE events in Hong Kong, HKTB further promoted Hong Kong’s role as the “Super-connector” between the Mainland and the rest of the world by stepping up communication of the “Meet Hong Kong • Meet GBA”. The programme encouraged overseas organisers to leverage Hong Kong as a gateway to connect with, and open the doors to, Mainland markets, while attracting Mainland exhibitors who wish to leverage Hong Kong as a springboard to reach international markets, strengthening Hong Kong’s role as a MICE hub bilaterally.
For Mainland association convention planners who wish to capture more international exposure and collaborations, and leverage Hong Kong as a springboard to reaching out to international markets, “Meet Hong Kong • Meet the World” was curated to promote how Hong Kong acts as a gateway to the world, strengthening Hong Kong’s role as a MICE hub bilaterally.
To attract more MICE visitors to Hong
Kong, HKTB upgraded its MICE travel
digital application in the first quarter
of 2024 for Mainland markets with
upgrading HKTB’s original WeChat
applet to a perpetual digital platform.
This enabled HKTB to reach out to
more MICE trade partners in the
Mainland and promote new thematic
experiences through trade partners’
business networks.
The search engine function on the
platform was also upgraded to facilitate
users to receive timely information
and search for the information they
need. HKTB also added more content,
including information of 266 Hong Kong
hotels, MICE venues and experiences,
to provide trade partners with the
latest MICE information.
The year 2023/24 marks the second term of the Hong Kong Convention Ambassador (HKCA) programme, which assembled a powerhouse of over 110 Hong Kong Convention Ambassadors, and for the first time, HKTB extended its arm to appoint over 20 members from eight industry sectors across Mainland China. In November, HKTB hosted the first-ever exchange session for the Convention Ambassadors in Hong Kong and in the Mainland. The Convention Ambassadors exchanged views on the latest developments in the convention and exhibition industry in the two markets and explored how to capitalise on the strong growth momentum of the MICE segment to create more business opportunities. With a robust itinerary and insightful exchanges, it has fostered close collaboration and showcased how Mainland association conventions can capture the growth momentum of Hong Kong and achieve greater success by staging their business events in the city.
With the collaborative efforts of the HKTB and over 140 HKCAs, about 70 events had chosen Hong Kong as the meeting destination to drive the recovery of tourism and multi-sector growth since programme inception.
In early 2024, the Government set up an
interdepartmental Mega Events Co-ordination
Group chaired by Deputy Financial Secretary,
with Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism
as deputy. Members of the group include
representatives from relevant bureaux,
departments, or statutory bodies to ensure that
mega events staged in Hong Kong receive
sufficient interdepartmental support to maximise
the benefits of mega events economy.
To support the Government’s efforts, HKTB
has set up the Mega Events Development and
Advancement (MEDA) division to become the
first point of contact for event organisers, and
is responsible for assessing events and liaising
with the organisers on the necessary
arrangements for event staging in Hong Kong
before making recommendations to the
Government and coordinating the cooperation between different parties. HKTB also provides
support for publicity and promotions, and identify mega events with potential that are
suitable for Hong Kong.
In addition to supporting the mega event
economy through organising and supporting
various activities, HKTB continued to leverage on
Hong Kong’s all-time favourite travel experiences
enrich the diversity of experiences in town to
cater to new travel demands and consumer
behaviour, encouraging visitors to fully embrace
Hong Kong’s various tourism appeal.
During the initial period of travel resumption,
HKTB presented visitors with “Hong Kong
Goodies” visitor consumption vouchers to showcase Hong Kong’s warm welcome to visitors.
At the same time, we also strengthened the experience of arts and culture, nature and scenery,
wellness tourism and cruise experiences. Moreover, HKTB rolled out a series of programmes
to enhance the night-time ambience of Hong Kong, including a series of promotional offers in
collaboration with the travel trade and a new Temple Street promotion, to create a vibrant
night-time ambience across the city.
To warmly welcome visitors from all over the world back to Hong Kong, HKTB presented a series of rewards to visitors. Via the “Hong Kong Goodies” visitor consumption vouchers, HKTB jointly offered 1 million visitor consumption vouchers, with a value of at least HK$100 each, together with more than 400 merchants with over 3,800 outlets in Hong Kong. Visitors to Hong Kong can enjoy a complimentary welcome drink at a participating bar, restaurant or hotel, or redeem the voucher for a reward in transport, food and beverage, retail, or attractions, so that they can experience Hong Kong’s hospitality.
The campaign was well-received among visitors. As such, a second round of another 1 million rewards were launched in July 2023. Some Mainland travellers even regarded “Hong Kong Goodies” as a not-to-be-missed experience in Hong Kong.
To encourage the local public to enjoy the in-town experience, cultivate a habit of enjoying night-time activities in the city and extend the city’s vibrant ambience into the evening, HKTB actively supported the Government’s “Night Vibes Hong Kong” campaign and launched a series of activities and promotions.
Riding on Hong Kong’s diverse night-time appeals, HKTB organised a number of flagship events in the evening and stepped up promotions on Hong Kong’s vibrant night-time atmosphere to drive a lively, vibrant night-time ambience across the city to attract public participation. At the same time, such initiatives boosted the footfall in community where the promotions were held, and hence generating economic benefits from popularity.
Hong Kong’s nightlife is a colourful mix of new hotspots and beautiful sights. The Temple Street Night Market, well-known among travellers, is a unique night-time attraction in Hong Kong for its lively atmosphere, gourmet food, shopping and local culture. Starting from mid-December 2023, HKTB joined hands with Temple Street merchants to launch a one-year promotional campaign to reinvigorate the traditional Temple Street experience. In addition to food stalls with classic Temple Street flavours, HKTB also set up a number of thematic spots to bring together the characteristics of Temple Street and inspire a sense of freshness, with a view to boosting the interest of tourists and locals in visiting the area.
Focusing on the uniqueness of Temple Street, HKTB has combined the elements of food and art to create novelty to enhance the vibrant atmosphere. 22 new food stalls and 10 nostalgic mobile food stalls were set up, offering snacks and bites with local flavours in a one-stop market. The new Night Market successfully stimulated business of food merchants in the community and supported the night-time economy.
At the same time, HKTB invited local artists to set up illuminated punch card art installations, distinctive road signs and light art projections featuring the elements of old Hong Kong and Temple Street at various locations in the neighbourhood, creating a colourful and vibrant atmosphere while enhancing the fun of night-time exploration for both locals and visitors. By early March 2024, it is estimated that the Temple Street Night Market attracted more than 1.2 million visits from both locals and tourists.
HKTB then launched the second phase of promotion. Local singer Wan Kwong, known as the “Prince of Temple Street”, was invited to re-produce the music video of his classic tune I Love Temple Street in his uniquely recognisable voice to express the charm of Temple Street. In the music video, Wan Kwong guided a group of tourists to enjoy beer and local delicacies such as spicy snails and fried crabs in the typhoon shelter style at the food stalls. The video also invited viewers to the rediscover the Temple Street night market.
To uphold the vibrant nightlife ambience, HKTB handed out 1 million new “Hong Kong Night Treats” visitor dining vouchers to inbound travellers starting from November 2023, to encourage them to experience Hong Kong’s dining and wines in the evening. Visitors with the vouchers can enjoy HK$100 off their whole bill at one of the 1,200-plus restaurants and bars in Hong Kong from 6pm onwards.
In light of the popularity of the campaign among tourists, HKTB subsequently extended the campaign to the local public during the Christmas and New Year peak seasons. 200,000 “Hong Kong Night Treats for Locals” of HK$20 million in total were distributed to the local public in two batches, stimulating local night-time consumption and generating business opportunities for the catering industry.
Collaborated with bus companies to promote the glamour of the city at night and enrich visitors’ experience, HKTB launched three specially designed night-time sightseeing open-top bus routes for three months. The buses passed by a number of famous attractions and landmarks on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon at night. Visitors can enjoy a special price of HK$20 at the HKTB’s Kowloon Visitor Information Centre. Many visitors shared their unforgettable experience of the night bus tour on social media such as Xiaohongshu afterwards, which helped promote Hong Kong’s night-time appeal to visitor source markets.
As Hong Kong is one of the most festive cities in Asia, HKTB has launched the “‘Hallo’ Hong Kong Halloween” campaign, which features fun and creative Halloween-themed decorations infused with unique Hong Kong elements at MTR stations, tourist attractions and various hotspots across the city, to further enhance the festive atmosphere of Halloween in town.
For the first time, HKTB’s Visitor Centres at the Hong Kong International Airport, the West Kowloon Station and the Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui were transformed into new Halloween-themed hangouts with lively decorations. Visitors can also play Trick or Treat with Visitor Services specialists for free limited-edition gifts, and receive customised Halloween itineraries, fully immersing themselves in the festive mood.
As the whole new “World of Frozen” opened in Hong Kong Disneyland, HKTB invited a total of 60 influencers from Southeast Asia to Hong Kong. In addition to visiting the new attractions, the influencers also enjoyed a variety of Hong Kong’s night-time experiences, including the Wine and Dine Festival and the multimedia performance A Symphony of Lights on board the Chinese junk Aqua Luna. The promotion went viral on social media in Southeast Asian markets, with a total of 1,200 social media posts and 51 million users reached.
For the Taiwan market, HKTB also invited 50 KOLs from Taiwan to visit Hong Kong for a preview of Disneyland, hosted a media familiarisation trip, and launched partnered promotions with influencers and travel agencies to promote Hong Kong’s night-time experiences, such as dining and nightlife attractions through media partnership, user-generated contents and bus stop advertising. The KOLs shared on the social media of their experiences on Hong Kong’s nightlife, bar experience, dining places, Temple Street, various evening programmes of various flagship events, as well as the offers in “Hong Kong Night Treats” to create a diverse and vibrant impression for Hong Kong as a destination with exciting night-time experiences.
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Targeting the Mainland markets, HKTB started a series of online digital marketing in partnership with China Mobile’s application to highlight Hong Kong’s nighttime experiences, and handed out the “Hong Kong Night Treats” visitor consumption voucher to mainland consumers through WeChat applet alongside media promotion. HKTB also teamed up with Mainland lifestyle portal Meituan to share Hong Kong’s night-time fun targeting young Mainland audiences and new markets in the Mainland, to attract new visitors to Hong Kong.
In contrast to visitors’ previous focus on food, shopping and attractions, HKTB noted that the demand for in-depth experiences has become increasingly strong under new tourism landscape, and visitors are more interested in the local characteristics of their destinations than ever before. Arts and culture that are rich in local characteristics now take up a considerable amount of time in the itineraries of today’s travellers.
In this regard, HKTB launched the “Arts in Hong Kong” year-round arts and cultural events promotion platform a few years ago to actively promote and support Art Basel Hong Kong, Art Central, Arts in Hong Kong Harbour Tour, Arts March, French May Arts Festival, Affordable Art Fair, and other cultural happenings, to attract art and culture lovers to visit Hong Kong during these events and to facilitate their trip planning. Leveraging these art and cultural events, HKTB strengthened Hong Kong’s role as a centre of cultural exchange between the Mainland and the rest of the world through the integration of culture and tourism.
In 2023, HKTB collaborated with Le French May Arts Festival to invite local artists to present the Palace of Versailles, a shrine of French art and culture, on the body of a Hong Kong Tram, running around Hong Kong as a mobile canvas to bring an artistic sensory and interactive journey to the local community. HKTB also continued to promote various arts and cultural events in the city through “Arts in Hong Kong”, including the Affordable Art Fair Hong Kong, the large-scale public art exhibition Double Ducks 2023, and a series of events organised by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, such as the Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival and Sai Kung Hoi Art Festival to continue to make Hong Kong an art and cultural tourism destination.
In addition to stepping up publicity for arts events in town, HKTB also collaborated with artists and contemporary art fairs to incorporate Hong Kong’s unique characteristics and lifestyles into these exhibitions, to enrich the experience of local participants and visitors alike. At Art Basel Hong Kong, HKTB has set up a Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng which offered local bites such as pineapple buns, egg tarts, chicken wings in “Swiss” sauce and Hong Kong-style milk tea, showcasing our fusion of Chinese and Western cultures. In addition, HKTB set up an Arts in Hong Kong Newsstand inspired by traditional newsstands at Art Central. The newsstand featured three-dimensional paper-cutting artworks by millennial paper-cutting artist Chen Fenwan from the Greater Bay Area, including colourful Hong Kong billboards and mosaic tiles. Hand-drawn art maps were also distributed at the newsstand to visitors to encourage them, to explore the arts and cultural experiences around Hong Kong as well. In addition, six local artists were invited to create a series of artworks based on Hong Kong’s multi-cultural characteristics, making use of these world-class exhibitions to showcase Hong Kong’s uniqueness to visitors from all over the world.
Riding on the peak season of arts and cultural event in early 2024, HKTB launched a new time-limited “Arts in Hong Kong Harbour Tour” to promote arts experiences around the vicinity of Victoria Harbour. Visitors could take a ride on the traditional Chinese junk Dukling to explore different arts events along the harbours including the “teamLab: Continuous”, “Voyage with Van Gogh” and “Atelier Sisu – Ephemeral” from day to night around Victoria Harbour, and enjoy the intense art and cultural ambience from a new perspective.
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To capture attention for Hong Kong as a global art and cultural focus and capitalising on the tourism appeal of art and cultural happenings during the event periods, HKTB not only invited media from different countries and regions to visit Hong Kong, but also strengthened its promotions in different markets. As many of the art lovers are high-spending travellers, HKTB launched promotions targeting high-end visitors.
For the Taiwan market, for example, HKTB collaborated with fashion magazine Vogue and a local influencer Yu Lee (Yutopia) to share their experiences in Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Central, to reinforce Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s art hub; in Mainland markets, HKTB co-operated with art media such as the art channel of Phoenix TV and iWeekly, and invited seven national media organisations to experience different art and cultural activities first-hand. HKTB also partnered with luxury travel agencies in the Mainland to promote Hong Kong’s arts and related activities to the affluent segment, and launched high-end tourism products with luxury hotels combined with art events admissions to drive overnight visits and stimulate visitor spending in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is rich in green and natural tourism resources, which are highly accessible from downtown areas. Green tourism experiences, such as hiking and water activities, were already very popular among tourists before the pandemic. After travel resumption, many visitors were more interested in exploring nature and wellness experiences. Therefore, the HKTB worked with the travel trade to create more green tourism experiences and products through various co-operation initiatives to make the best use of Hong Kong's natural resources to create tourism business opportunities.
In March 2024, the HKTB partnered with online travel agency Klook, airlines and hotels to launch the “HK Great Outdoors Festival” tour for the first time in the South Korean market. Targeting Gen Z and Millennials, who are passionate about sharing their lives online, the tour combined sports and wellness workshops, city experiences and outdoor excursions in Hong Kong. The itinerary included yoga classes, hiking and other sports workshops, together with professional photography packages and night running along the Central harbourfront, led by Korean athletes and star KOL instructors. Participants also enjoyed the changing views of Hong Kong's spectacular skyline by day and night while doing exercise on the observation deck on the top floor of Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The event attracted more than 200 young South Korean visitors, and all the workshops were fully booked, reflecting that these new wellness experience tourism products were well received by travellers and have growing market potential. More importantly, Hong Kong’s image as a destination for outdoor activities has been successfully established.
To promote Hong Kong’s diversified tourism products and attract more ship deployment and visitors from different source markets, the HKTB continued and the Government continued to actively engage with cruise lines to promote Hong Kong as a key cruise destination. In 2023, Hong Kong received a total of 164 ship calls, with about 480,000 passenger throughputs. In addition, Hong Kong is set to welcome seventeen maiden calls in 2024, reflecting Hong Kong’s status as one of the popular cruise destinations in the Asia-Pacific region among travellers from around the world.
In 2023/24, HKTB proactively engaged with cruise lines. In addition to providing additional resources to support the deployment of cruise ships in Hong Kong, HKTB also promoted Hong Kong’s diversified travel experiences to cruise lines and positioned Hong Kong as an important homeport and port of call to enhance cruise companies’ desire to deploy vessels to Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, to drive consumer demand and enhance their interests in Hong Kong cruise tourism, HKTB collaborated with major cruise companies and travel agencies, including Royal Caribbean International and Resorts World Cruises, to promote a wide range of cruise products such as thematic cruises, fly-cruise products and shore excursions through digital marketing, advertisements, and trade and consumer exhibitions. In addition, HKTB also promoted the experience of cruise tourism in Hong Kong in key source markets such as the Mainland, Taiwan, Australia, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
Furthermore, apart from collaboration with the cruise lines, HKTB also organised familiarisation visits for the travel trade and media to give them a better understanding of Hong Kong’s latest cruise-related infrastructures and latest cruise offerings and products. In addition, HKTB recognised the importance of reinforcing product knowledge among frontline practitioners to facilitate effective promotions. In view of this, HKTB has collaborated with Celebrity Cruises in Australia to conduct training to its staff, with a view to enhancing the attractiveness of Hong Kong cruise tourism when promoting the cruise products to customers, thereby bringing in more travellers to Hong Kong.
HKTB will continue to work with cruise companies and industry partners to leverage Hong Kong’s latest tourism facilities and products, such as organising gala dinners or VIP experiences at special venues, to strengthen the selling points of shore excursion, and hence enhances Hong Kong’s appeal as a major cruise destination. We will also encourage cruise companies to include Hong Kong in their itineraries, thereby driving the further growth of Hong Kong’s cruise tourism.
