| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 22/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 37 |
| Copyright: Other |
Growth forecast
Overseas markets push Hong Kong visitor levels to new high
Report by LINSEYMCNEILL
HONG Kong believes this year could be its best ever year in terms of visitor numbers as the destination is seeing strong growth from many of its main overseas markets.The tourist authority had forecast a 6.8% increase for this year over 1999, giving it a total of 11.4m visitors, but it now thinks it could equal or even surpass the 1996 total of 11.7m.
Hong Kong Tourist Association new regional director for northern Europe Sue Whitehead said: “We experienced double digit growth for the first three months of the year, and it looks as if our original forecast for 2000 was a bit conservative.”
UK visitor numbers increased 5.3% during the first three months of this year compared to the same period of last year. There were 89,740 British visitors to Hong Kong from January to March.
Whitehead said that although the figures show business from the UK is on the increase, visitor numbers from the UK have not quite reached pre-handover levels.
“In 1996, there were just over 397,000 British visitors, and unless we have an absolutely fantastic nine months, it is very unlikely we will reach that figure this year,” she added.
The HKTA is planning an advertising campaign, using national newspapers and radio, for the UK this autumn. The campaign will focus on Hong Kong’s attractions outside the city, and it will be the first to use the HKTA’s new City of Life logo.
Whitehead, who joined the HKTA on April 1, said the tourist authority also plans to work more closely with its trade partners in the UK to promote Hong Kong as a stopover destination.
“This is an area where we believe we can get a bigger share of the business, but it is not an area we have focused on in the past,” she said. “We are in the process of rolling out some joint advertising and merchandising with operators and airlines to promote Hong Kong as an ideal stopover destination.”
Whitehead:plans to work with the trade to promote Hong Kong