‘World’s biggest welcome ever’: Hong Kong launches all-out promotional drive to entice visitors back after 3 years of isolation
- Chief Executive John Lee unveils details of his government’s ambitious ‘Hello Hong Kong’ campaign
- He highlights plans to give away 700,000 airline tickets, revive interest in city’s many tourist attractions, and restore its reputation as ‘world’s freest economy’
Hong Kong has launched an all-out global promotional drive to entice visitors back into the city after three years of isolation under tough pandemic curbs, announcing “the world’s biggest welcome ever” with free air tickets, spending vouchers and special events.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu unveiled details of his government’s ambitious “Hello Hong Kong” campaign on Thursday, highlighting plans to give away 700,000 airline tickets, revive interest in the city’s many tourist attractions, and restore its reputation as “the world’s freest economy”.
“This, ladies and gentlemen, is probably the world’s biggest welcome ever!” he declared after a launch ceremony at the Convention and Exhibition Centre.
“There will be no isolation, no quarantine, and no restriction on experiencing our great wine-and-dine scenes, on doing business, on joining events and outings, on doing sports, on enjoying the hustle and bustle of Asia’s world city, and so much more.”
In another development, the government is expected to announce the scrapping of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for people travelling between mainland China and Hong Kong from Monday – the final piece in fully reopening the city without any restrictions – at a press conference scheduled for Friday morning, according to sources.
Lee, against a backdrop of promotional videos featuring popular singers and industry leaders of chambers of commerce, said the government would invite 1,000 prominent guests to witness how Hong Kong was back in the global arena.
Does Hong Kong tourism need to do more to soar than return to ‘boring’ normal?
He will lead a delegation to the Middle East on Saturday to tell “great and true stories” about Hong Kong, while the city will roll out more than 250 mega events to entice businesspeople and visitors in the coming months.
Among the big events are music festival Clockenflap, Art Basel, the Hong Kong Marathon and the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament in March.
More than 100 international-level exhibitions will include the “Virtually Versailles” exhibition from April to July, an immersive sound and light display centred around the opulent palace created by French “Sun King” Louis XIV, and the first Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival from April to December.
The Tourism Board started on Thursday giving away at least 1 million spending vouchers worth HK$100 each under the “Hong Kong Goodies” campaign to welcome back visitors.
Tourists can redeem free “welcome drinks” and receive discounts on attractions and retail, as well as food and beverage and transport from more than 16,000 outlets.
02:07
Hong Kong to give away 500,000 airline tickets as part of a HK$2 billion promotion campaign
It was estimated the first phase of the campaign would cost about HK$100 million (US$12.8 million), according to the Tourism Board.
“We are going all out to tell our many good Hong Kong stories to overseas and mainland counterparts. Hong Kong enjoys unparalleled advantages under the unique ‘one country, two systems’ principle”, Lee said, referring to the framework under which the city was governed.
“I will personally carry the promotional messages of our prowess as the world’s freest economy and China’s international financial centre when I visit Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the coming week.”
The city leader will visit the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sunday and Monday before departing for Abu Dhabi in the evening and then on to Dubai on Wednesday afternoon.
During his trip, Lee will meet local political and business leaders, visit local enterprises, attend forums and introduce the city’s latest developments, investments and business opportunities. He will return to the city on February 11.
As it happened: Hong Kong plans free airline tickets for locals, regional visitors
While the campaign launch was full of slogans and short on details on the criteria of giving away the airline tickets, economists said the government was on the right track for putting Hong Kong back into the international spotlight.
They estimated the drive would stimulate economic growth by generating about HK$120 billion in tourism dollars, or about 4.5 per cent of pre-pandemic receipts.
Among the campaign highlights, authorities expect to give out 700,000 free airline tickets from March 1 within six months to travellers from around the world, with the city’s three carriers – Cathay Pacific Airways and the group’s budget carrier HK Express, as well as Hong Kong Airlines – distributing 65 per cent of them. The remainder will be reserved for related sectors to support inbound tourism and promote the city.
About half a million tickets will be reserved for overseas travellers, with about three-quarters earmarked for Asian visitors – based on inbound tourism patterns in pre-pandemic times. The promotion will first target Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, followed by Northeast Asian ones and the mainland.
Another 80,000 tickets will be given to Hong Kong residents and 80,000 to visitors from the Greater Bay Area.
Airlines will give out the tickets through promotions such as lucky draws, buy-one-get-one-free deals and other games or competitions, according to Airport Authority CEO Fred Lam Tin-fuk, while more details will be announced in due course. Registration is expected to begin on March 1.
“Each visitor is expected to bring two to three other companions, meaning the giveaway of 500,000 tickets could attract 1.5 million extra visitors eventually, accounting for a projected 10 per cent of travellers from March to September,” he said.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po was optimistic the ticket promotion would boost the economy as the drive would spur consumer spending.
“Giving airline tickets away will have a multiplier effect. As it brings more visitors here, spending will increase in food and beverage and other sectors, which in turn will drive the economy,” he said. “As they come here elated, hopefully they will spend more money too.”
Hong Kong economy shrinks worse-than-expected 3.5 per cent in 2022
He said after meeting business leaders in Davos during the World Economic Forum last month, one of his takeaways was that Hong Kong had barely been visited during the three years of the coronavirus pandemic.
“They are not very familiar with the Hong Kong situation, such as our pandemic restrictions and quarantine measures, and how Hong Kong’s economy is doing,” he said.
Chan said building external connections by having visitors come for sightseeing and doing business would amount to an important driver of the economy.
The finance chief added that the government was proactively reaching out to the world to tell people about the opportunities in Hong Kong, while planning invites for 1,000 VIPs to visit the city. The targeted guests include business and political leaders, as well as influencers, representatives from the media sector and think tanks.
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said promotional videos, especially one featuring city celebrities Aaron Kwok, Sammi Cheng and Kelly Chen, would be showcased to more than 3,000 channels, covering an audience of 200 million.
“Seeing is believing,” Tourism Board executive director Dane Cheng Ting-yat said.
He highlighted the HK$100 million spent in the initial stage only covered part of the Tourism Board’s publicity campaign, including the production of promotional videos, costs for the tourism industry to participate in exhibitions, inviting overseas media and friends to experience new tourist attractions, but did not include the free tickets.
Entertainment tycoon Allan Zeman called the campaign a good thing to show the world that Hong Kong was open, but said it could take time for people to visit, experience the place for themselves then spread the word about its attractions to rebuild the city’s image abroad.
Additional reporting by Kahon Chan
