ENG-2010 — Page 361

Chapter 15

Travel and Tourism

Hong Kong's tourism industry performed impressively in 2010. A record high of over 36 million tourists visited the city during the year, enjoying its many attractive offerings. Works on expanding Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park, two popular tourist spots, are under way as is the construction of a cruise terminal at the former Kai Tak Airport. The Government is also reviewing different aspects of the tourism industry to enhance further Hong Kong's appeal as Asia's world city.

Hong Kong's tourism industry bounded in 2010, thanks to the recovering global economy which boosted visitor arrivals in 2010 by 21.8 per cent over 2009, to a historic high of 36.03 million surpassing the 30 million mark for the first time.

The Mainland continued to be the largest source of visitors. A total of 22.68 million Mainland visitors came to Hong Kong in 2010, representing an increase of 26.3 per cent. Elsewhere, both long-haul (+10.5 per cent) and short-haul (+17.1 per cent) markets registered remarkable growth. Emerging markets such as Russia (+102 per cent), India (+44.8 per cent) and the Middle East (+20.7 per cent) continue to show excellent performance.

Major Tourism Developments

While work on boosting family and business travels continued, special effort was made to promote MICE (Meetings, Incentive travels, Conventions and Exhibitions), cruise tourism, mega events and green tourism.

MICE

Hong Kong is an international financial centre, an aviation hub in Asia-Pacific and a gateway to the Mainland. Coupled with world-class convention and exhibition facilities and diversified tourism offerings, Hong Kong is a premier MICE destination. The Government has earmarked $150 million for promoting MICE tourism over five years. A dedicated office 'Meetings and Exhibitions Hong Kong' (MEHK) has been established under the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) to provide one-stop professional services for organisers of MICE events and strengthen promotion, thereby attracting more MICE events to Hong Kong.

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