SUCCESS IS LIFE’S OWN REWARD ... AND HONG KONG AS A MEETINGS AND INCENTIVE DESTINATION IS IT!

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is making life easier for incentive travel and meeting planners with a colourful new 64-page booklet packed with useful advice to ensure programmes and events held in Hong Kong are always successful.

Available from the Board’s worldwide offices this month, Incentives: The Complete Programme Planning Guide provides an overview of unique activities, cost-effective ideas, tours and special events to increase this important travel sector’s business in 2002 and beyond. The accompanying LIFE! Privilege package offers benefits, activities and visitor literature that can enrich each and every participant or delegate’s experience of Hong Kong.

“One glance at the new guide will convince planners that Hong Kong is well worth looking at in more detail,” said HKTB Executive Director Ms Clara Chong. “We want to show old friends and new contacts that this destination serves business and leisure travellers equally and combines the both for a non-stop treat.”

The guide illustrates the appeal of Hong Kong as an exceptionally safe and stimulating destination where the traditions and cultures of East and West blend brilliantly. “Conference, meeting and incentive groups discover that Hong Kong is compact and efficient with world-class infrastructure and accommodation,” Ms Chong added. “For accompanying spouses and for pre- and post-meeting and conference leisure activities this is very important and the range of motivational and educational options we can make available is endless.

HKTB research shows that in 2000, corporate meetings and incentive visitors stayed for an average of 3.36 nights (compared with 3.0 for leisure visitors) and their per capita spending was twice that of the HK$4,539 per capita for visitors as a whole.

Large-scale events during the next two years are expected to be extra selling points for planners. Coming up in early 2002, as part of the City of Life: Hong Kong is it! campaign are CLP Lights Up Hong Kong — the dazzling SAR-wide illuminations for Christmas, New Year and the Chinese New Year — February’s spectacular Cathay Pacific International Chinese New Year Parade & Fiesta and Spring’s Hong Kong Flower Extravaganza.

Hong Kong remains one of the top incentive and convention destinations in the region. Over the past few months Hong Kong has won five major bids: for a corporate meeting from a direct sales company, with 2,300 participants from Japan; a regional conference in December 2005 and an international medical conference in 2007. There are over 170 conventions and major corporate meetings confirmed for the next five years, bringing more than 120,000 people to Hong Kong. “In 2001, Hong Kong was named the leading destination in the Asia-Pacific at the World Travel Awards and also the best Asia/Pacific’s Leading Tourist & Convention Bureau. In the first exhibition venue survey conducted by regional publication CEI Asia Pacific had Hong Kong rated by respondents as one of the top three cities for exhibitions in Asia. As a venue Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre was rated far above all regional competitors,” Ms Chong said. “Our approval rating as a meetings and incentive travel destination is equally high. We hope our new guide will prompt more organisers to consider Hong Kong.”