Tourism Board launches new food and wine promotion
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has officially launched a new marketing platform: the Hong Kong Food and Wine Year.
Between now and March 2010, the HKTB — in collaboration with major catering associations, approximately 2,000 restaurants, popular tourist attractions and famous dining districts, as well as more than 25 renowned local gourmets — will spread the message citywide and show to the world the diverse culinary experience of Hong Kong, reinforcing the city’s image as one of the world’s dining capitals.
“Hong Kong has long been famous for its culinary strength. Leveraging on the government’s exemption of wine duty, which enables visitors to enjoy a wide selection of wine at highly attractive prices, the HKTB has decided to launch this new marketing platform,” HKTB Chairman James Tien said. “For the coming 12 months, we hope that by stimulating visitors’ consumption, especially during the current economic downturn, we can create greater business opportunities for our catering sector, and in the longer term, strengthen Hong Kong’s image as a wine and dine hub and our city’s destination appeal.”
Throughout the Hong Kong Food and Wine Year, the HKTB will be injecting elements of food and wine into its promotions both locally and in visitor source markets. Through its dedicated Hong Kong Food and Wine Year Web site, the HKTB presents to visitors wide-ranging information on the selection of food and wine in Hong Kong, as well as generous offers from the local catering industry. During the first phase (now to June), more than 1,000 local restaurants are offering special privileges, including complimentary dishes and drinks; buy-one, get-one free and 50% discount offers.
In promoting Hong Kong’s dining experience, the HKTB is employing creative angles, such as pairing wine with Chinese cuisine. At the end of this year, the HKTB will organize a mega event, the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival, followed by Wine and Dine Carnivals in famous dining districts to showcase Hong Kong’s dining, drinking and entertainment offers. To tie in with the promotions, local travel agencies are introducing tours that combine sightseeing and dining.
 |
For details and the latest offers of the Hong Kong Food and Wine Year, please visit the dedicated Web site, [www.HKFoodandWineYear.com]. |
On the international front, the HKTB is inviting local and international gourmet chefs to promote Hong Kong’s food and wine through PR activities, and cooperating with the travel trade in various source markets to launch package tours and itineraries themed on Hong Kong cuisine, including a “Celebrity Gourmet Tour.” Furthermore, the HKTB plans to introduce to overseas consumers and visitors Hong Kong’s tantalizing tastes through road shows and trade fairs.
Tourism spending exceeds US$20.25 billion in 2008
Figures released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) show the Total Expenditure Associated to Inbound Tourism (TEAIT) in 2008 reached US$20.37 billion, an increase of 11.7% over 2007. The average per capita spending of overnight visitors reached US$697, or 6.2% more than in 2007, while that of same-day, in-town visitors surged 20.9% to US$192.
HKTB Chairman James Tien cautioned that despite the double-digit increase achieved in 2008, the global financial downturn is affecting visitors’ spending. “We registered strong gain in overnight visitors’ spending in the first quarter of 2008,” he said. “However, starting from the second half of the year, when the global financial crisis began to affect economies worldwide, visitors’ spending started to decrease, especially for those from the long-haul regions. By the last quarter, we saw negative growth in spending across different market regions, with the exception of mainland China.
“We expect that the trend will continue into 2009,” Mr. Tien added. “According to the World Tourism Organization, international tourism will experience less, and probably negative, growth over the next six to nine months, and the decline in average length of stay and expenditure will be more pronounced than in overall arrivals, given that consumers will likely travel closer to home and spend less. Depending on the economic conditions, our current projection is that both TEAIT and the average per capita spending of overnight visitors will suffer decline.”
Benefiting from the strong exchange rate of the Australian dollar in the first half of 2008, overnight visitors from Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific had the highest per capita spending at US$792 in 2008, or 10.6% higher than in 2007. Those from Europe, Africa and the Middle East came second at US$775. As for the Americas, overnight visitors spent an average of US$738 each. For the short-haul regions, mainland China registered the highest per capita spending at US$727.
Among the same-day arrivals, those from mainland China had the highest spending in 2008 — an average of US$274 (+16.7%) per capita, as many took advantage of the Individual Visit Scheme to make frequent consumption visits to Hong Kong. In contrast, per capita spending of same-day visitors from Taiwan — an average of US$34 — is the lowest among all regions, as many departed for the Mainland and other destinations as soon as they arrived in Hong Kong.
In 2008, shopping took up the largest share of spending by both overnight (57.3%) and same-day visitors (88.1%) in 2008. Meanwhile, there was a significant increase in the spending on entertainment (+24.6%), especially among short-haul visitors, including those from mainland China, Taiwan and South & Southeast Asia.
|
