Hong Kong stages HK$ 15 Million Super Draw

Visitors and residents in Hong Kong are being tempted to go on a wild spending spree by the largest lucky draw ever held in the city between 1 August and 30 September 2003.

The draw features stunning prizes worth over HK$15 million including a deluxe residential apartment, shopping coupons, air tickets, flying pass, golf club membership and a luxury car, all valued at more than HK$1 million each, plus many superb prizes worth over HK$100,000 each.

Acting Financial Secretary, Stephen Ip and Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Executive Director Clara Chong today unveiled details of the Hong Kong Super Draw organised by the HKTB. Together with the sponsors' representatives, they called on the whole community to participate actively in the Super Draw.

Mr Ip said, "Tourism industry is an important economic pillar of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Super Draw and the subsequent series of events shall attract more visitors to Hong Kong, and contribute to the relaunch of the tourism industry." 

Ms Chong said that the past few weeks had already seen a quick pick-up in visitor numbers and hotel bookings. "There were more than 725,000 visitors in June 2003. Our initial estimates show that the July performance will even be better as more than 760,000 visitors had already arrived within the first 20 days, revealing a steady recovery of our tourism industry," she said.

She pointed out that the Hong Kong Super Draw was one of the highlights of the HKTB's Hong Kong Welcomes You! promotion, designed to attract visitors to come to Hong Kong and spend. "The Super Draw is intended to stimulate spending by both visitors and local residents so as to create a platform for Hong Kong's travel and tourism-related sectors to rebuild their businesses," she said. "The objective of the Super Draw is to trigger spending by everyone in the city in the five most frequent areas of spending by visitors and residents, namely shopping, dining, entertainment, travel and transport."

Ms Chong added that according to the HKTB's statistics, half of all visitor spending in Hong Kong went on shopping, 26% on hotel services, 14% on dining and about 4% on entertainment and sightseeing. As regards public transport, over 50% of visitors take taxis and the MTR during their stay in Hong Kong. "Based on the spending pattern of visitors and residents, we have therefore focused the Super Draw on these five sectors, which are the core strengths of Hong Kong's tourism industry."

The total value of Super Draw prizes exceeds HK$15 million. Included as the grand prizes are a Residence Bel-Air apartment worth HK$3.4 million, sponsored by PCCW; Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa Group shopping coupons worth HK$3 million, sponsored by the Cheung Kong Group - Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd, Hutchison Whampoa Ltd, Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Ltd, and Hong Kong Electric Holdings Ltd; air tickets valued at HK$2 million, sponsored by Cathay Pacific Airways Limited; a travel pass worth HK$1.5 million, sponsored by Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Ltd; a Mission Hills Golf Club diamond membership, sponsored by Dr David S H Chu, JP; and a Mercedes-Benz S350L saloon car worth HK$1.05 million, sponsored by Zung Fu Co Ltd/Mercedes-Benz China Ltd.

To qualify for entry, all visitors or residents need to do is spend in the five sectors. For every spending of HK$100 at the participating outlets (on a single receipt, except for receipts for taxis and adding value to Octopus card), they will receive a stamp. Upon collecting three different stamps - one each from dining and shopping and one from the entertainment, travel or transport sectors, they can receive one entry in the Super Draw. All participants are required to keep their receipts. Winners will be required to present the original receipts for redemption. The earlier and the more they spend, the greater their chances of winning.

Ms Chong noted that the Super Draw had received enthusiastic response from the travel trade right from its conception to implementation. "As at today, over 5,000 retail, dining and entertainment outlets and 100 hotels and guesthouses have already indicated their interest in participating along with public transport operators and 18 taxi associations representing 13,000 taxis," she said. "Given the simple registration procedures and requirement, we expect that the number of merchants joining the event will continue to grow. We urge all interested merchants to sign up as soon as possible to help make the Super Draw truly the most amazing lucky draw Hong Kong has ever seen."

To encourage massive participation by merchants, recruitment advertisement will be placed in newspapers. The HKTB has lined up a series of briefing sessions to provide the participating merchants with details of the Super Draw. A number of briefings have already been held for the travel trade and its frontline staff to ensure that they are fully aware of the Super Draw format.

Hong Kong Super Draw entry forms are printed in the Activities Guide distributed to incoming visitors. During the Hong Kong Welcomes You! promotional period, there will be HKTB staff stationed at the airport and Lo Wu to present a Welcome Pack, which includes the Super Draw leaflet and entry form, to visitors. During the initial stage of the Super Draw, there will also be HKTB staff stationed at other ports of entry including the Lok Ma Chau border crossing, China Ferry Terminal and Macau Ferry Terminal on certain dates.

To widely publicise the Hong Kong Super Draw amongst visitors, the HKTB has lined up a series of promotional and publicity activities. Even before arrival, visitors coming by air will be informed of the Super Draw through in-flight announcements. Upon arrival, they will immediately be greeted by banners and posters put up at various ports of entry. As visitors proceed into the city, they will see advertisements displayed on the Airport Express, MTR, KCR, trams and buses while bunting and tent cards will be erected at the participating outlets. As for overseas publicity, the HKTB has promoted the Super Draw along with the Hong Kong Welcomes You! promotion during trade briefings worldwide. Print advertising has also been arranged in specific markets.

In Hong Kong, residents can obtain information and entry forms for the Super Draw through advertisements in major local newspapers and the www.HKSuperDraw.com web site. The HKTB has set up a hotline for the Super Draw at 3128 8388 to answer public enquiries between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm. The HKTB will also arrange Announcement of Public Interest (API) broadcasts on television and radio. Hong Kong pop star Kelly Chen has already agreed to star in the API television footage, which will be broadcast locally from 31 July. This comprehensive and extensive publicity ensures that the whole town will be filled with the excitement of the Super Draw.

Participants can submit their entry forms through collection boxes placed in convenient locations throughout the city including the airport, the Airport Express Line, 12 KCR stations, 11 MTR stations, 39 shopping malls and department stores, participating hotels and guesthouses, and the HKTB Visitor Information and Services Centres in Central and Tsim Sha Tsui.

The Super Draw will be conducted in two bursts. The first draw, which consists of entries received from 1 to 31 August, will be held on 5 September. The second and grand lucky draws, which consist of entries received from 1 August until 30 September including the Burst 1 winners, will be held on 6 October to select winners of the second draw and those of the six grand prizes. Early birds in the Super Draw can therefore enjoy a maximum of three chances to win. Results will be posted on the www.HKSuperDraw.com web site the following day and published in local newspapers on 13 October.

Ms Chong invited the whole community to join the HKTB efforts to revive Hong Kong's tourism by sharing the information with families, friends and business contacts overseas and encouraging them to visit Hong Kong to experience the excitement in the city. "We ask everyone in town to participate actively in the Super Draw either by joining as participating merchants or by spending themselves. With community-wide support, we are confident that Hong Kong will restore visitor arrivals quickly and regain its rightful place as Asia's most popular single destination in the global tourism market before too long," she said.