IMMIGRATION AND TOURISM
137
Japanese travel trade and the news media. HKTA members also took part in the Osaka Trade Fair in April-May.
Again in Japan, a team of ice-carvers from the Mandarin Hotel took second prize in an ice-carving competition organised for the Sapporo Snow Festival. They were part of a Hong Kong travel industry team that visited Japan to promote Hong Kong at the festival and at subsequent travel trade presentations in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagoya.
A very well-received 'Fascinating Hong Kong' promotion was held in Kuala Lumpur and Penang in September. The promotion featured Hong Kong craftsmen, chefs and a superb display of Hong Kong-made jewellery, and highlighted the great importance placed on South-east Asia as a rapidly-developing travel market.
In the United States, there was HKTA representation at the prestigeous American Society of Association Executives' (ASAE) annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona. A travel industry team promoted Hong Kong as an ideal meetings destination during a series of pre-conference trade calls to New York, Washington, Illinois and California, and a concerted effort was made to sell Hong Kong as an exciting destination for incentive travel business.
A series of joint HKTA-Cathay Pacific promotions was organised in Australia during June. They included consumer and travel trade events and covered Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The Perth Royal Show in September featured a Hong Kong stand where Chinese traditional fanmaking and calligraphy were displayed. The show was organised by the Rural and Industrial Bank of Western Australia, and Hong Kong participated in co-operation with Cathay Pacific. A series of joint HKTA-Air New Zealand promotions also were held in New Zealand in September. The HKTA was represented at the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) Conference in Hobart in July.
Other major overseas travel events at which the HKTA and the Hong Kong tourist industry were represented were the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) in Berlin in February, the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) Conference in Madrid in October-November, the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) Conference in Lisbon in November, and the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) Conference in Singapore in November. Hong Kong took part at ITB as a member of the East Asia Travel Association (EATA).
Public Relations
A successful 'one thousand smiles' competition was organised during the PATA Conference to encourage greater courtesy to visitors. An overseas holiday and cash vouchers were offered as prizes to Hong Kong people who earned the most 'smile' votes from conference delegates.
For the second year running, a team of Peiron rowers from Japan was invited to Hong Kong to take part in the Dragon Boat Festival races at Shau Kei Wan. A team of rowers from Malaysia also competed. Much favourable publicity resulted in Japan and Malaysia, with more than two hours of television coverage in Japan alone. A carefully-planned schedule of media familiarisation visits continued to generate film, television, radio, magazine and newspaper coverage for Hong Kong in all major visitor-generating markets.