The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), recently announced its 2021/22 Work Plan, setting out short- and medium-to-long-term strategies for tourism revival.
The tourism board will have a marketing budget of HK$1,138 million for the 2021/22 financial year, including recurrent funding. Following are the details of the deployment of the marketing budget:
Short-term strategies (35 per cent)
- When the pandemic situation stabilises, a new spend-to- redeem programme, called “Staycation Delights” will be launched, offering an additional option for people of Hong Kong to enjoy local experiences. Phase II of the “Free Tour” programme will start once the government restrictions on local tours are lifted.
- The HKTB will launch a promotional platform called “Open House Hong Kong” when cross-border travel gradually resumes. The campaign will focus on exclusive experiences and citywide offers.
- Efforts will be taken to revamp Mainland strategies and there will be an increase in marketing resources for the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to attract visitors to travel to Hong Kong for leisure.
Medium-to-long-term strategies (40 per cent)
- When cross-border travel gradually resumes, HKTB will launch large-scale promotions on the new tourism brand on multiple channels, including digital platforms in source markets worldwide, together in partnerships with major international media outlets to highlight Hong Kong’s reinvented tourism image.
- A digitally enabled travel experience for visitors through a one-stop e-solution platform will be created.
Ongoing initiatives (25 per cent)
- HKTB will continue to enhance the subsidy schemes and sponsor trade members’ participation in trade events.
- Strengthened support for the MICE and cruise sectors and their promotions, and bid to host more international conferences in Hong Kong. Support for the gradual resumption of cruise tourism will resume when the global situation stabilises.
- Mega events will be organised and support will be offered to other events in the city to maintain Hong Kong’s international exposure.
HKTB executive director Dane Cheng said:
“Despite the start of vaccinations against Covid- 19 worldwide, the pandemic situation remains volatile and unpredictable. We consider it unlikely Hong Kong will see a full resumption of cross-border travel in the next three to six months. However, we do expect it to be possible for Hong Kong to welcome tourists from selected markets.
“In formulating our strategies for 2021/22, we focused on two major areas. Firstly, we saw a need to offer support to the trade and boost the ambience in Hong Kong, while ensuring the city’s continued exposure on the international stage ahead of the resumption of international travel.
“Secondly, we anticipate competition for tourists will be intense once the pandemic is over, with rival markets going to great lengths to bring visitors back. The HKTB is therefore setting aside resources for large-scale promotions so that Hong Kong will stand out against competing destinations.”
