TORONTO — The Hong Kong Tourism Board celebrated the Year of the Dog at Susur Lee’s Luckee last night with plenty of good news, like the 58.4 million visitor arrivals in 2017. That includes 370,000 arrivals from Canada.

The HKTB is looking to keep up the forward momentum with its ‘Best of All, It’s in Hong Kong’ campaign which encourages visitors to discover Hong Kong like a local.

“We have identified various experiences to feature under the best campaign,” says Michael Lim, Director-Canada, Central & South America, Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Susur Lee shows how to make his famous slaw

For Canadians visiting Hong Kong, those experiences are culture, dining, attractions, Chinese festivals and the great outdoors, he adds.

The city is also seeing new hotels with an additional 34 hotels being developed by the end of the year, taking the capacity to over 85,000 rooms.

There’s also a new initiative to promote Hong Kong neighbourhoods with the launch of Old Town Central, positioned as a melting pot of arts, culture and entertainment.

Part of the Old Town Central messaging includes five themed walking routes for clients looking to explore the neighbourhoods at their own pace. The next neighbourhood is Sham Shui Po and will be launched in late March. Sham Shui Po is home to multiple historic sites, characteristic architecture, religious buildings, local diners, hawker stalls, shopping malls and bazaars.

In other news, the famous ‘A Symphony of Lights’ light and sound show, performed daily at Victoria Harbour, has gotten a refresh, with a new edition making its debut in December 2017 with even more dazzling elements and a new soundtrack performed by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

The most revealing statistic from last night’s reception was the destination’s popularity as part of a multi-destination trip for clients.

“Over 90% of Canadian visitors [to Hong Kong] are on a multi-destination itinerary,” said Lim. “We’ll be leveraging on this to accelerate our co-ops with China, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. New multi-destination itineraries will be developed with our airlines and tour operator partners.”

With 14 direct flights daily from Canada to Hong Kong, the destination is definitely a hub to Asia for Canadians. This is how the tourism board is looking to leverage itself with other destinations:

China

Working with the China National Tourist Office, they are focused on ensuring Hong Kong is included on the itinerary when consumers are thinking of visiting the rest of China. They will be continuing a digital campaign with the micro-site china-hongkong.ca.

Thailand

Another partner is the Tourism Authority of Thailand, with two campaigns. The first is a 20-page feature in Fashion Magazine’s summer issue and a hub on fashionmagazine.com. They will also be working with OTA Travelzoo on an eight-week campaign.

Taiwan

Having seen success working with the Taiwan Tourism Bureau on B2B initiatives, they will continue to work with the destination through the website 2storiesonetrip.com, offering various packages from tour operators.

Vietnam

They feel the destination is gaining interest this year and will be working on new initiatives this year and exploring various tactical opportunities with trade partners.

For more information, go to partnernet.hktb.com.