NEW YORK—Travel Agent was on site last week as the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) hosted a Chinese New Year's dinner, recapping a successful 2006 year in tourism and offering predictions for this year.
HKTB officials say total visitor arrivals will reach 26.4
million in 2007, a rise of 4.6 percent over last year. This figure is
consistent with the World Tourism Organization's forecast that global tourism
will increase by about 4 percent in 2007, and is based on performance trends in
different source markets, as well as economic and political conditions.
Overall visitor arrivals to Hong Kong
in 2006 stand at 25 million, an 8.1 percent increase from 2005. (The Americas recorded
1.6 million visitors in 2006, a 4.2 percent increase from 2005. The U.S. made up
1.1 million of those tourists, a moderate 1.4 percent increase from 2005.) The
impressive year was attributed to a successful year-long "2006 Discover
Hong Kong Year" marketing campaign during which the city introduced
several new attractions, including Hong Kong Wetland Park, which features more
than 60 hectares of recreated wetlands on the northeastern edge of the scenic
Tin Shui Wai territory, and Ngong Ping 360, which combines a 5.7-kilometer
cable car journey with a themed village. The campaign, which was aimed at
getting tourists to "rediscover" the city, also featured a
re-introduction of Hong Kong Disneyland.
For 2007, the HKTB is going back to its previous campaign,
"Hong Kong—Live it. Love it!" Also
successful, this campaign was in place in both 2004 and 2005, and garnered an
Adrian Award from the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International
organization for one of its TV commercials.