Bangkok--Sep 7--Francom Asia
About 4.6 million visitors came to Hong Kong during the 2005 Hong Kong Shopping Festival, which ran from 25 June to 31 August. Organised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), the 10-week Mega Event attracted overwhelming merchant participation and close to six million lucky draw entries, the latter being equivalent to HK$1.85 billion of spending, 24% more than in 2004. The promotion also enabled Hong Kong’s tourism industry to maintain its record-breaking performance. Fuelled by strong growth from long-haul markets, arrivals in July reached 2.1 million, the highest July total ever.
Performing the lucky draw ceremony today (5 September), HKTB Chairman The Hon Mrs Selina Chow, GBS, OBE, JP said that the encouraging results showcased the irresistible global appeal of Hong Kong’s shopping experience. “One of the remarkable achievements is the record performance in July, which is traditionally a low tourism season as there are relatively fewer business travellers, particularly from long-haul markets,” she remarked. “It exceeds the very high base achieved a year ago following the further extension of the Individual Visit Scheme to the entire Guangdong Province in May 2004 and then to nine other Mainland cities two months later, making it the highest July total ever.
“But above all, we’re most encouraged by the fact that the growth has spread across all regions, and particularly in the long-haul markets, demonstrating that our continued efforts in maintaining a balanced portfolio of visitors are continuing to bear fruit,” Mrs Chow added. “This year, we’ve received strongly positive response from long-haul travel trade partners. As well as launching a range of promotions and publicity, they have developed different packages related to the Festival, which helped expand the long-haul market share.”
Driven by the extensive promotions, the long-haul market regions enjoyed an overall growth of almost 20% in July, with arrivals from Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific increasing by as much as 35% over the record performance in July 2004. The popularity of the Festival among long-haul travellers was also demonstrated by the remarkable increase in lucky draw registrations this year.
Among long-haul markets, Australia recorded a 33.5% increase, while France and Germany registered 43.6% and 26.0% growth respectively. (For details of the July arrivals, please refer to the attachment.)
The Festival has also proven its effectiveness in attracting visitors from short-haul regions, with arrivals from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea all registering double-digit growth in July. Another market with encouraging results is Taiwan, where lucky draw registrations increased by over 50%.
As for Mainland China, while the flow of individual visitors to Hong Kong has begun to steady, the HKTB has lately identified a newly emerged visitor segment — the “consumption visit” segment. These visitors come to Hong Kong for specific consumption purposes. They tend to spend more per day, though with shorter stays, and revisit Hong Kong more often than other individual visitors.
Riding on this trend, the HKTB will develop new programmes to encourage these visitors to explore the lesser-known attractions of Hong Kong so as to fully tap the potential of the segment.
As in past years, the Festival has received enthusiastic participation citywide. This year, the Festival attracted a record 7,150 participating merchant outlets, which staged a record number of activities and programmes, such as product expo and interest classes, to provide visitors with a total experience and stimulate their spending. These activities are specifically designed for highlighting Hong Kong’s distinctive values — diverse and fashionable merchandise, quality, convenience and value for money — all of which make the city an enduringly popular shopping destination.
In addition, the HKTB has organised a computerised Lucky Draw featuring 70 fabulous prizes that between them were worth over HK$2.2 million. This electronic draw has attracted close to six million entries, the largest-ever number for any lucky draw event in Hong Kong.
Mrs Chow stressed that the Festival’s success was a perfect showcase of Hong Kong’s teamwork. “It exemplifies the excellent partnership and collaboration between the tourism industry, the business sector and our community, who jointly contribute to the success of this Mega Event, and ultimately the overall economy,” she said. “As we are about to roll out our 2006 Discover Hong Kong Year promotions, we’ll continue to count on their full support in the exciting year ahead.”
Today the HKTB conducted the lucky draw. Results of the lucky draw will be posted on the HKTB’s DiscoverHongKong.com website from 7 September, and published in Sing Pao Daily News and The Standard on 12 September.
Notes to Editors
1. About 4.6 million visitors came to Hong Kong during the 2005 Hong Kong Shopping Festival that ran from 25 June to 31 August, which is in line with the Board’s target.
2. The Mega Event attracted participation by a record 7,150 merchant outlets, which created a record number of special activities and programmes to help enhance visitors’ experiences. These activities are specifically designed for highlighting Hong Kong’s distinctive values — diverse and fashionable merchandise, quality, convenience and value for money.
3. The electronic draw has attracted close to six million entries, the largest-ever number for any lucky draw event in Hong Kong, which is equivalent to HK$1.85 billion of spending, 24% more than in 2004.
4. The Festival also enabled the tourism industry to maintain its record-breaking performance. Total arrivals in July reached 2.1 million, ahead of the previous record set in July 2004 following the further extension of the Individual Visit Scheme to the entire Guangdong Province in May 2004 and nine other Mainland cities two months later, making it the highest July total ever.
5. This year, travel trade partners in long-haul markets have all responded positively to this event by proactively launching a range of promotions and publicity. Driven by these extensive promotions, all long-haul market regions recorded an overall growth of almost 20%, with arrivals from Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific increasing by some 35%. The remarkable performance demonstrates that HKTB’s continued efforts in maintaining a balanced portfolio of visitors are continuing to bear fruit.
6. As for short-haul regions, the Festival sustained its popularity in markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea, all of which recorded double-digit growth in arrivals. Another market with encouraging results is Taiwan, where lucky draw registrations increased by over 50%.
7. As for Mainland China, while the number of individual visitors has begun to steady, the HKTB has lately identified a newly emerged “consumption visit” segment of Mainland visitors, who come to Hong Kong for specific consumption purposes. These visitors tend to spend more per day though for shorter stay, and they revisit Hong Kong more often than other individual visitors. End.