After reeling from the economic recession, Hong Kong's tourist industry appears headed for a banner year and the Hong Kong Tourist Board is rolling out the promotions, hoping to make it even bigger.

The aim is to beat the 2008 record of 7.5 million visitors during the June to August period by up to 20 percent.

The board has set out a half-million dollar incentive for visitors, with its Visa Go Super Shopper contest. The whole idea is based on a scavenger hunt around Hong Kong, in partnership with Visa.

The incentive for the accelerated promotion came after the city reported a record 10 million visitors in the first four months of the year.

Lau announced Wednesday that the board plans to spend HK$42.5 million dollars on its "Hot Events, Cool Place" promotion in order to "sustain the growth impetus of visitor arrivals since the beginning of this year, and set a new arrival record for this summer."

Lau said the ongoing Shanghai World Expo gave the city access to some three and a half million foreign visitors, able to come and visit Hong Kong. He said the city can also capture more visitors through multi-destination itineraries, luring travelers bound for the mainland or on their way to check out Singapore's newly opened Sentosa Resort.

The record 11.4 million visitors earlier this year was helped along with continued economic growth and travel spending by mainlanders, which accounted for the lion's share of visitors or 63 percent of the total.

Other Asian markets contributed to the record, with growth in tourist traffic ranging from 15 to 30 percent. A stronger Won in Korea boosted the number of Korean visitors by nearly a third.

Visa free travel for Russians resulted in a doubling of travelers from there. There were also increases in visitors from developing countries in the region.

Responding to concerns over the ailing Euro, Lau said, "We haven't observed any negative trends; up to April, traveler figures from Europe and the Americas have grown at close to 10 percent," but he added, "If the economic situation continues to deteriorate, there might be some impact."

The first round of the Board's two-round shopping contest for registered locals and visitors will award sixteen winners who rack up HK$3,000 or more with their Visa cards between June 11 and the end of August.

Eight local winners will receive HK$10,000 while the eight overseas winners will receive a trip back to Hong Kong good till the end of October.

The second stage will see local and overseas winners paired off to compete in a HK$20,000 shopping scavenger hunt with the winning pair making off with HK$500,000.

The Board is also offering free tickets to this year's book, food and computer fairs while free gifts and deals will be on offer at 10 major shopping malls and 130 restaurants.

China Daily

(HK Edition 05/27/2010 page1)