HONG KONG–Travel Agent was in Hong Kong June 24–26 to experience the city's
latest attractions: the Hong KongWetlandPark
and Ngong Ping 360, a cable car ride to the Tian Tan Buddha statue on LantauIsland,
during the Hong Kong Salutes the World celebration. Hong KongWetlandPark is a 61-hectare site
on the northeastern edge of the Tin Shui Wai section of the city. The park aims
to increase tourism as well as education on the importance of preserving
wetlands. Both indoor and outdoor educational sites are offered for people of
all ages. Ngong Ping 360's cable car was scheduled to open on June 24, but was
delayed because of minor technical difficulties, says Kiri Sinclair, account
supervisor for Grebstad Hicks Communications, a public relations firm working
with Ngong Ping 360. Sinclair says the date of the cable car's opening won't be
announced until further testing has occurred. The ride will be combined with a
cultural-themed village that provides information about Hong
Kong's history. A key element of the Hong Kong Tourism Board's
2006 Discover Hong Kong Year campaign, Hong Kong Salutes the World was part of
a campaign that has been planned since 2004. It was designed to introduce
travel agents, tour operators and media from more than 30 countries to Hong Kong's two latest attractions as well as
re-introduce the city's long-standing features. "If people in the travel
industry want to sell Hong Kong, they must
package the new with the old," says Cynthia Leung, senior manager of
public relations for the Hong Kong Tourism Board. "And that's what we are
trying to help them do during this occasion." Hong
Kong had about 23 million visitors last year. With the new
attractions and the year-long promotion of the city, Selina Chow, chairman of
the Hong Kong Tourism Board, says she hopes that number will jump to 27 million.
