The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has reported
that approximately 600,000 people visited the city in 2022.
This figure is provisional, with the exact
full-year number of visitor arrivals, as well as that for December
2022, scheduled for release on 31 January.
Since the government started lifting various
pandemic-related inbound control measures, visitor arrivals have
gradually picked up in the past few months, with most visitors
coming from the Mainland and Southeast Asian markets.
In addition to overnight stopovers and family
reunions, business travellers have also started to increase in
number.
HKTB has said that it expects the city’s tourism
will be revived progressively, and has gradually stepped up
promotions in select source markets to broadcast the positive
message that Hong Kong is welcoming back visitors. HKTB also plans
to launch a large-scale global promotion in phases.
: *Includes figures from long-haul, short-haul, and
new markets, as well as Macao SAR. Also, because of rounding, the
total may differ from the sum of the individual figures.
Recent figures reveal that daily visitor arrivals to Hong
Kong has increased from between 2,400 and 4,500 per day during the
Amber Code period to over 10,000 per day after the lifting of
Amber Code.
The major source markets are the
Mainland, Philippines, Taiwan and the United States, followed by Thailand.
Apart from overnight
stopovers, family visits, business trips and essential travel,
there has also been a slight increase in leisure arrivals since the
lifting of all COVID19 inbound control measures at the end of
December.
The HKTB has said that it expects Hong Kong’s tourism
to gradually recover, subject to the following factors:
1. Airline capacity has not yet been fully
restored;
2. Shortage of manpower in the tourism and related
sectors;
3. Uncertain economic outlook and concerns arising
from current exchange rates; and
4. Some markets still impose inbound control
measures on visitors arriving from the Mainland, Hong Kong and
Macao, which travellers may find inconvenient when returning home
Because of all the above, it is
expected that visitors will mainly come from markets such as
the Mainland and Southeast Asia.
HKTB’s large-scale global promotions will commence
next month with the following three strategies designed to help
drive tourism revival:
HKTB has prepared a series of welcome messages of
“Say Hello” to Mainland and Southeast Asian markets from business
leaders, celebrities and KOLs to spread positive messages of a
warm welcome.
HKTB will also roll out a series of videos showcasing
Hong Kong’s brand new experiences in arts and culture,
attractions, culinary, etc.
HKTB will invite 500+ members of the travel
trade, media and Hong Kong Super Fans to Hong Kong to enjoy the
experiences in person.
– HKTB will lead the local travel trade to join
outreach promotions and participate in large-scale global travel
trade shows and trade events.
The HKTB has already secured 30 large-scale MICE
events of various themes to be hosted in the city starting from
2023, including business management, aviation, technology and
medical sciences:
– 2023 WOW Summit Hong Kong, Global Web 3.0
industry summit;
– RISE, one of the most influential tech summits;
– 44th Asia Pacific Dental Congress;
– 10th Annual General Meeting of International
Association for Chinese Management Research;
– 2024 East Asian Insurance Congress
There are also a series of flagship events
returning to Hong Kong, including the Jewellery & Gem ASIA Hong
Kong (JGA) and Jewellery & Gem World Hong Kong (JGW) to be held in
June and September 2023 respectively, Cosmoprof Asia and the Asia
Fruit Logistica, the MICE sector expects a total of about 300,000
participants.
Leveraging Hong Kong’s geographical advantage of
being well connected to the Mainland and overseas cities, HKTB
will strengthen its support for securing more large-scale
international MICE events to be hosted in or return to Hong Kong
to attract high-yield business visitors and consolidate its status as the “World’s Meeting Place”.
Hong Kong will
stage a number of major events in 2023:
HKTB will give out ‘Hong Kong Goodies’ –
such as promotions and vouchers – to visitors that can be used in more than 100
bars, restaurants and hotels for a free drink or redemption for
consumption amount and offerings at more than 130
attractions, dining or retail outlets and transport operators.
HKTB will also roll out various offerings with
different trade partners such as airlines, travel agents and
hotels, encouraging such partners to launch their own promotions
to help bring people back to the city as visitors.
HKTB has also said that it will support the free air ticket giveaway by
the Airport Authority Hong Kong, especially in overseas
promotions.
