294 Travel and Tourism
among young people and teaches them how to promote Hong Kong. By the end of the year, there were more than 1 300 young ambassadors who, together, rendered more than 83 000 hours of service.
Easier Visitor Entry
The Individual Visit Scheme, introduced in 2003 by the Mainland authorities to allow its residents to visit Hong Kong in a personal capacity, has been well received. In 2007, more than 8.59 million Mainlanders visited Hong Kong under the scheme, which was extended to cover 49 cities, including all cities in Guangdong province, Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Tianjian, Chengdu, Jinan, Dalian, Shenyang, Changsha, Nanchang, Nanning, Kunming, Guiyang, Haikou, Shijiazhuang, Zhengzhou, Changchun, Hefei, Wuhan and nine cities in Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces
New measures were also introduced during the year for Russian and Vietnamese business visitors to apply for multiple-journey visas that are valid for up to 24 months, with a length of stay of not more than 14 days per visit. In addition, a fast-track visa service was introduced to facilitate side-trips to Hong Kong for Russian tour groups, arranged by designated travel agents, visiting the Mainland.
Hong Kong Tourism Board
The HKTB is a subvented organisation responsible for marketing and promoting Hong Kong around the world as a preferred destination for leisure and business. Its board of directors consists of 20 members representing a broad spectrum of tourism- related interests. It works from a head office in Hong Kong and has 15 other offices and six representative offices around the world.
The HKTB appointed its first official representative in Russia in August to capitalise on the Russian market's rapid development and growth potential. This enabled the HKTB to forge a more direct and closer relationship with the travel trade in Russia and to expand the HKTB's global reach.
The HKTB also commissions extensive market studies to gauge industry trends, overseas perception of Hong Kong and feedback from visitors. It shares information with the Government and with its industry partners to help the industry cater more effectively to tourists' needs and to make capital of new business opportunities.
A wide range of marketing strategies is employed to meet different market needs. The HKTB works closely with its overseas counterparts to develop tourism products. In 2007, it organised familiarisation trips to Hong Kong for more than 1 000 international media representatives and about 2 500 representatives of the travel trade.
Information Network
The HKTB operates two Visitor Information and Services Centres in Hong Kong: one in Causeway Bay on Hong Kong Island and the other in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon, as well as information counters at the Hong Kong International Airport and Lo Wu boundary. In 2007, these centres assisted 1.7 million visitors, distributed 9.7