ENG-1998 — Page 338

TRAVEL AND TOURISM

270

highlight its unique blend of East and West. The extensive range of top-quality events adds to Hong Kong's reputation as the Events Capital of Asia.

In particular, the HKTA organised the Chinese New Year Parade on the first day of the Lunar New Year, together with its accompanying Fiesta on the ensuing two days. The Hong Kong Food Festival was held in August instead of the normal time slot in March to coincide with the Food Expo organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. In June, the annual Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival International Races, organised in conjunction with the Provisional Regional Council, took place in Sha Tin, attracting some 15 overseas teams and 88 local teams.

The HKTA also introduced, in collaboration with other bodies, another new initiative the Harbourfront Fest event. It features street-side entertainment by amateur and professional local performers and was held in the Piazza outside the Hong Kong Cultural Centre every second Sunday in early 1998. The Fest, originally planned to be staged for a specific period of time, proved so popular that it was made an ongoing event, as well as being extended to every Saturday and Sunday in July as part of the JulyFest summer promotion.

To help promote Hong Kong as the Event Capital of Asia, in 1998 the government lent the HKTA $100 million to set up the International Events Fund. It will be utilised over five years as seed money to support the staging of major international events that could bring in additional visitors and tourism receipts. A Steering Committee comprising representatives from the public and private sectors was set up to oversee the fund's use. Since its establishment, loans have been approved to cover six major events.

To further support the objective, the government leased the former Tamar site to the HKTA for the period from September 1998 to June 2000. Over the last four months of 1998, the association co-organised or staged a series of events on this landmark site, including the City of Life — Harbour Fun Carnival, held on Sundays throughout October and November and featuring such theme evenings as a Mid- Autumn Festival celebration, Hong Kong's first outdoor Halloween Masquerade party, a Hong Kong Pop Concert and a Hong Kong Heritage Banquet Thousand Bowl Feast. In addition, the popular Hong Kong International Industrial Products Exhibition, which promotes Hong Kong's outstanding industrial products and has a history of more than 30 years, began at the Tamar site at the end of 1998 to run through to early 1999.

Tourism Products

To focus resources on developing new products for visitors, the HKTA has begun to hand the day-to-day operation of some of its regular tours to commercial enterprises. Such include the popular Land Between tour of the New Territories and the Come Horseracing Tour that takes participants to the racecourse at either Happy Valley or Sha Tin to experience Hong Kong's most popular spectator sport. Other tours the HKTA continues to operate include the Sports and Recreation Tour, the Family Insight Tour and the Transit Tour.

In addition to these guided tours, the HKTA's self-guided walking tours covering Central and Western District, Yau Ma Tei, Cheung Chau, Lantau and Sai Kung continued to be popular. Added to this collection is the new Heritage and Architecture Walking Tour: Hong Kong Island, which makes use of a hired portable