ENG-2019 — Page 352

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Travel and Tourism

MICE

Hong Kong is a premier MICE destination, offering world-class convention and exhibition facilities and a diversified range of tourist attractions. It hosts some of the world's largest trade fairs, such as the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair, Hong Kong Gifts and Premium Fair, and Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair. Meetings and Exhibitions Hong Kong is an office working under the Hong Kong Tourism Board to promote MICE tourism.

Overnight MICE visitors decreased 14.2 per cent to 1.69 million in 2019, affected by the China- US trade conflict and the social incidents locally. Major conventions and exhibitions held in 2019 included the International Baccalaureate Global Conference; Airports Council International Asia-Pacific/World Annual General Assembly, Conference and Exhibition; Cloud Expo Asia, Hong Kong; Data Centre World, Hong Kong; Congress of the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction; Asia Pacific Life Insurance Congress; Asia Funeral and Cemetery Expo and Conference; International Exhibition of Food and Drink, Hotel, Restaurant and Foodservice Equipment, Supplies and Service; Rise Conference; Forbes Under 30 Summit Asia; Digital Media Asia; and Hong Kong FinTech Week.

Cruise Tourism

The Kai Tak Cruise Terminal can simultaneously accommodate two mega cruise ships with a gross tonnage of up to 220,000 tons each. In 2019, the terminal handled 175 ship calls involving 162 calendar days. Total passenger throughput exceeded 840,000.

The government and the board promote regional cooperation of the cruise industry through the Asia Cruise Cooperation, which leverages the synergy among the partnering ports via an incentive scheme named Asia Cruise Fund; joint promotion events and major industry events, so as to drive ship deployment to Hong Kong and foster its position as a regional cruise hub.

Mega Events

The government adopts a multi-pronged strategy to support the staging of events varying in scale and nature, so as to tie in with the policy objectives of product diversification and attracting high-yield overnight visitors. International events hosted in the city include the Hong Kong E-Prix, held in March.

Mega events organised by the board in 2019 included the Hong Kong Pulse Light Festival, International Chinese New Year Night Parade, E-Sports and Music Festival Hong Kong and Hong Kong New Year Countdown.

Green Tourism

The Great Outdoors Hong Kong campaign promotes the Hong Kong Unesco Global Geopark, the natural landscape, hiking trails, cycling routes, trail running events and other green attractions via the board's website, guidebooks, social media platforms, visitor centres and a hotline. In 2019, the government launched a pilot arts, historical, cultural and green tourism project on Yim Tin Tsai island in Sai Kung. To enhance the tourist-friendliness of hiking trails with good tourism potential, the MacLehose Trail Section 1, Peak Trail and Double Haven Country Trail were improved by end-2019.

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