TRAVEL AND TOURISM
the globe. Running concurrently with the final two days of the World Championships was the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival-International Races, in which 26 overseas teams took part. The Row for Charity races at the festival raised more than $770,000 for the Community Chest. Both events were organised by the HKTA and the Provisional Regional Council, in conjunction with the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Association and the Hong Kong Sports Development Board (HKSDB).
At around the same time, the HKTA also supported the HKSDB in co-organising the first Marketing of Sports in the 21st Century conference, which attracted some 100 participants from 18 countries.
The HKTA also sought to boost Hong Kong's reputation as the Events Capital of Asia through the overseas promotion of international events, which included the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the International Cricket Sixes tournament.
Tourism Products
The HKTA's own regular tours The Land Between Tour, the Come Horseracing Tour, the Sports and Recreation Tour, the Heritage Tour and the Family Insight Tour were enjoyed by about 23 000 visitors in 1997. Special tours were also staged during the Food Festival, the Bun Festival on Cheung Chau Island and the Tin Hau Festival celebrations in Yuen Long. An Historic Hong Kong Tour was organised during the 100 Days of Wonders promotion, gaining world-wide publicity. The association's self-guided walking tours covering Central and Western District, Yau Ma Tei, Cheung Chau, Lantau and Sai Kung, continued to be popular. In August, the HKTA launched a new tour the Transit Bus Tour for transit passengers at Kai Tak with a few hours to spare.
In an effort to provide visitors with an even wider variety of quality tourism. products, the HKTA continued to work closely with its member tour operators to encourage the co-operative operation of HKTA tours as well as the development of new tour products. Theme tours currently under development focus on such areas as the development of Hong Kong's new airport, fung shui, bird-watching, heritage and architecture.
Conventions, Exhibitions and Incentive Travel
The convention, exhibition and incentive travel sector is a key component of the tourism industry. The HKTA's success in promoting Hong Kong as a top-class venue for major international conferences and exhibitions is reflected in the growing number of such events confirmed to be held in Hong Kong in the coming years. During 1997, Hong Kong hosted some 1954 international events, bringing about 360 000 overseas delegates and participants. The newly-expanded Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, together with such other major venues as the Hongkong International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Kowloon Bay, provide a range of venue choice for convention and exhibition organisers.
Major international association meetings in 1997 included the 9th Asian Congress of Paediatrics, the 1997 Pacific Rim Forum, the 9th Assembly of Lutheran World Federation, the 4th Asia Pacific Life Insurance Congress '97, the 1997 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group/International
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