PATA Travel Mart 2019 and Trade Networking Event in Kazakhstan (17-20 September 2019)

To promote Hong Kong as the most preferred destination among the Belt and Road countries, HKTB led a delegation of seven Hong Kong trade partners to exhibit in the PATA Travel Mart (PTM) held in Nur-Sultan of Kazakhstan. HKTB also took this opportunity organising the first-ever trade networking event in Kazakhstan.

The networking event was held in Almaty on 17 September with 28 Kazakhstan trade attended, including Air Astana which operates three weekly flights between Hong Kong and Almaty. Hong Kong’s diverse year-round events and Old Town Central district promotion, as well as the new infrastructures Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge and the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link were highlighted. HKTB also introduced PartnerNet, a powerful B2B online platform and Hong Kong Specialist online training programme at the event.

At PTM 2019, Hong Kong delegates successfully promoted their products and services to local buyers during the pre-arranged business sessions. The PATA Gold Awards Dinner and Presentation was held on 19 September and HKTB won three awards: “Marketing – Young Travellers”, “Marketing – Adventure Travel” and “Marketing – Social Media Campaign”. The three-day event attracted over 1,200 delegates from 63 global destinations, including 252 buyers from 244 organisations and 48 source markets to attend.