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IMMIGRATION AND TOURISM
The HKTA has its headquarters in Connaught Centre in Central, on Hong Kong Island. It operates an Information and Gift Centre at the headquarters, and similar centres at the Star Ferry Concourse in Kowloon and at the Empire Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui East. These centres and the information counter at Hong Kong International Airport gave assistance to more than 1.2 million visitors in 1986. In addition, there are both English and Japanese- language ‘hotline' telephone services, which, together dealt with 30 000 calls during the year. All enquiries, whether made in person or by telephone, are monitored to provide further insight into visitor interests and spending patterns.
The marketing overseas of Hong Kong as a tourist destination is carried out primarily through the HKTA's 11 overseas offices and representatives, working closely with the travel trade. Offices are located in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka, London and Frankfurt, and there are representatives in Paris and Rome. There is also an agreement with the Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways to act as the HKTA's information agent in 44 cities in 19 countries.
During the
year, the HKTA refined and enhanced three main marketing themes which were continued from the previous year. These themes promoted Hong Kong as a 'destination for all seasons', as an ideal venue for international conferences and exhibitions, and as the primary destination for those travelling to and within Asia. To help promote the first theme, which conveyed the message that Hong Kong had much to offer visitors throughout the year, and not only in the usual peak season of October-November, the HKTA organised the first 'Hong Kong Food Festival – the Flavour of '86' which ran from August 17 to September 17. The festival was heavily promoted overseas to carry the message of Hong Kong's food attractions and its position as the culinary centre of the Orient. The highlight of the festival, which combined the talents of over 170 restaurants and entertainment establishments in Hong Kong, was the holding of the Hong Kong Food Festival Culinary Awards. In the Culinary Awards, a panel of 10 overseas experts joined a local panel to judge 269 original entries in the two sections of Chinese and Western cuisine. An additional feature of the festival was the introduction of the 'Yum Sing Night on the Town Tour', designed to introduce visitors to Hong Kong's nightclubs, discotheques, pubs and bars.
Some 100 members of the overseas press who specialise in writing about food were hosted during the festival, and 2 700 visitors came to Hong Kong on food-related special interest tours.
The second marketing message, concerning the conference and exhibition business, received a boost with the official laying of the foundation stone of the new Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre by the Queen on October 21, the first day of her visit to Hong Kong.
The centre, located on the Wan Chai waterfront and due to open in late 1988, will add to Hong Kong's international appeal as a site for large meetings and exhibitions. It will be able to compete for conferences of over 2 500 delegates and exhibitions requiring more than 18 000 square metres of presentation space. There has been steady growth in the number of international conferences and exhibitions held in Hong Kong, rising from 15 in 1976 to 450 in 1986.
The third marketing theme took account of the fact that few travellers visit just one destination in Asia, particularly from longhaul markets. With this in mind, the HKTA devised a new marketing strategy by which agreement was reached in principle with another Asian national tourist office and an airline to promote Hong Kong in a two-destination package for the United States market.