Media Promotion

Leveraging the celebrative moment during New Year Countdown, the HKTB shared the city’s vibrancy and festive ambience with authoritative national and regional media, including CCTV, Xinhua.net, China News Service, People’s Daily (overseas channel), NetEase News, Tencent News, Hunan TV, Sichuan Culture and Tourism Channel, Chongqing TV, the Oriental TV, Shenzhen TV, etc. The event was reported through social livestreaming starting from 31 December 2023, with highlighted video released on 1 January 2024 and some more delayed coverage between 1 - 4 January. In total 378 clippings were generated for both warm-up and event day release, achieving a publicity value of HKD 31+ million and 10+ million viewers.

Digital & Social Promotion (January - February)

To drive visits and celebrate the CNY and Valentine's Day, The HKTB launched the promotion across major social platforms, including Weibo, WeChat, Douyin and Xiaohongshu, to showcase the exciting city happenings and festive ambience. The promotion featured KOL visits and live-streaming to key spots, such as flower market, horse racing, CNY parade, fireworks, along with an exclusive dragon-themed virtual red packet on WeChat for audiences to kickstart the year of the dragon with good fortune and prosperity.

• Achieved 44+ million social media reach
• Distributed 81,666 red packets with 802,471 usages
• Gained 100,993 views and 160,846 engagements for the International Chinese New Year Night Parade live-streaming

Media Co-op with “YES廈門” in Fujian Province (January - February)

The HKTB collaborated with Fujian’s top social media account “YES廈門” and invited the famous local A cappella band to produce a medley song “福氣港港” from various Chinese New Year folk songs in Hong Kong. The music video, filmed at iconic Hong Kong attractions and landmarks, was distributed through the A cappella group and YES廈門's official social media accounts, thus attracting Fujian consumers to visit Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year. To further expand the programme’s reach, additional traffic was directed to WeChat video and Weibo, specifically targeting at core Fujian cities.

• Achieved over 11 million social media reach and over 5.9 million video views

Publicity Promotion (January - March)

Promoting the CNY via diverse media channels, the HKTB maximised the market voice and showcased the city’s vibrant festive atmosphere, to elevate Hong Kong as a must-visit destination during the festive period:

• Collaborated with Xinhua.net on a campaign page with three in-depth reports (including an executive interview) and over 20 stories, achieving a publicity value of HKD 13,551,276.
• Engaged Jiemian News to trigger travel intention with interesting contents via its huge online penetration capability, featuring one campaign page with four video news and eight in-depth Hong Kong themed stories, one mega event livestream, achieving a publicity value of HKD 7,719,690.
• Riding on Xiaohongshu’s annual campaign of “My Travel Stories in 2023”, partnered with the media to emphasise the Hong Kong travel experience and offerings by campaign page and UGC activities, with four Hong Kong celebrities’ vlogs (蔡潔, 陳山聰, 林夏薇, 吳業坤) to promote the CNY season in Hong Kong, achieving a publicity value of HKD 5,280,020 and 5.49 million social impressions.
• Partnered with Sina News on a livestream of HKCNY warm-up programme “种草旅行记”, and invited three KOLs (团结湖王老板, 青梅酱ching, 叫我海晨晨) to report their CNY travel experiences in Hong Kong. A total of seven social posts generated with a publicity value of HKD 3,116,840.

Partnership with Gaode for Thematic Promotion “春節遊香港” (February)

With the increasing prevalence of car ownership among mainland families, Gaode Map's navigation platform ranks among the top in market share. Car owners tend to have strong purchasing power and keen on leisure travel. Leveraging this insight, the HKTB partnered with the Gaode Map app to launch the "Spring Festival in Hong Kong" promotion before the festive period. This included distributing coupon packages to encourage platform users to book the Hong Kong tourism products.

• Achieved 9.5+ million exposure
• Reached 420,000+ participants
• Distributed 40,000+ festive coupons

Media Co-op with深圳交通電台 (January - March)

The HKTB collaborated with深圳交通廣播電台to develop contents for the two-lifestyle radio programmes伴你同行 & 從深圳出發 and generated a series of short videos, featuring CNY, arts & culture, nightlife, culinary and other new experiences. A consumer travel group to Hong Kong was also organised with Hong Kong Palace Museum tour being guided by a cultural scholar host to deliver an in-depth experience. The short videos were distributed across the official social media platforms of深圳交通電台, including WeChat@快樂1062, WeChat @伴你同行1062, WeChat Video @快樂1062 and Douyin@快樂1062. The programs were broadcast every Wednesday to Friday to encourage Shenzhen citizens to visit Hong Kong over the weekends.

• A total of 23 episodes were publicised in the radio programmes and six short videos posted on social media accounts. Publicity value exceeds Hong Kong $7.1 million.

KOL Advocacy (January - April)

The HKTB invited 25 KOLs who had strong influence in the GBA region to visit Hong Kong and experienced the city’s latest happenings covering arts & culture, family, culinary, shopping, outdoor themed POIs and activities, in a bid to strengthen Hong Kong’s destination appeal and drive conversion. The KOLs shared integrated contents across their social media platforms including Weibo, Douyin and XHS.

• Achieved 31.46 million social media reach

Media Co-op with N Video (January - November)

The HKTB partnered with N Video to roll out a series of short videos themed 常去賞新 探索香港 to promote latest happenings, in-depth local experiences and hidden gems across Hong Kong’s 18 districts on a regular basis, thus increasing the GBA consumers’ travel frequencies during the short breaks. Following the success of the pilot from January to March, the collaboration was further extended for another 8 months from April to November. Relevant contents were released on a social media matrix consisting of eight official accounts on N Video, Southern Metropolis Daily and Nanfang Daily Plus.

• As of 30 June, a total of 16 episodes was launched. Publicity value exceeds HKD 7.5 million

Partnership Co-op with Dianping (April - June)

The HKTB partnered with Dianping, the leading local life review and directory app, to promote Hong Kong's diverse dining and retail offerings and drive visitation and consumption among Greater Bay Area travellers.

The promotion created a virtual travel guide involving 80+ restaurants and merchants across five categories, including celebrities' favourites, chill and relax, night vibes, street foods, and starred restaurants with combo sets and coupon offers promoted by KOLs and targeted ads to encourage discovery and consumption.

• Achieved 8+ million impressions and 125,062 clicks
• Distributed 6,954 offers

Social Media Co-op with iWeekly (February - March)

The HKTB leveraged the popular lifestyle media iWeekly to showcase the latest art happenings in Hong Kong. A series of short videos, categorised into four themes, provided a whole new artsy perspective to explore Hong Kong, covering arts in dining, shopping, entertainment and accommodation experiences. An industry elite participated to warm up and build momentum for the campaign; at the same time KOLs from Douyin, Xiaohongshu and Weibo were invited to promote the Hong Kong art experiences in the forms of photos, videos and live streaming.

• Achieved over 28 million social media reach and over 23 million reads

Digital & Social Promotion for Arts in Hong Kong (February - April)

The HKTB launched the multi-channel promotion to strengthen Hong Kong's position as an event capital that offers international art experiences, with the example of Arts Month events, including Art Basel, Arts Festival, Arts Central and Arts by the Harbour. In particular, the partnership with Douyin and Xiaohongshu Arts invited celebrity Laurinda Ho and fourteen popular arts KOLs to join the events and experiences, while creating online topics and user engagement activities. The promotion was also extended offline, with an Hong Kong Arts Walk Map distributed at various locations, including HKTB Visitor Centres, Art Central newsstands, PMQ, The Mills, Central Market, K-11 MUSEA, etc.

• Achieved 32+ million social media reach
• Distributed nine thousand Hong Kong Arts Walk Map offline

Media Promotion (March - April)

To further establish the arts & culture centric image of Hong Kong and showcase the city’s artistic atmosphere during the Hong Kong Art Month, the HKTB has launched a national media FAM and a media co-op programme:

• In total, 12 national media were invited for a 4D3N FAM trip including Life and Arts Magazine, Architectural Digest, Wallpaper, Hi Art, Bazaar Arts, etc., with 63 article coverage achieving a publicity value of HKD 3,615,585.
• Partnered with iFeng Arts Channel to develop 1 campaign page of “Arts in Hong Kong” (藝聚香港) with 16 in-depth articles, 6 video releases, 11 social posts and 64 media reports. A publicity value of HKD 3,858,834 achieved.

Publicity Promotion (March - June)

With the opening of two new IVS cities - Xi’an and Qingdao in 2024, the HKTB has embarked on a series of launch activities to promote Hong Kong as a top-of-mind destination to attract first-timers from the new markets:

• Two press conferences were held in Xi’an and Qingdao on 13 and 14 March respectively, with a total of 51 media attendees (Xi’an: 25; Qingdao: 26). 181 clippings were generated (Xi’an: 83; Qingdao: 98) and achieved a total publicity value of HKD 5,729,727.
• Along with the offline events in Xi’an & Qingdao, seven core local media from the two cities including: Qingdao Evening News, Qilu Evening News, Qingdao News.com, Bandao Daily, Sanqin Daily, Xi'an Evening News and Huashang Daily, were invited to join a 4D3N FAM trip, to excite local travellers with Hong Kong’s latest POIs and tourism offerings. In total 120 clippings were collected with a publicity value of HKD 3,887,158.
• To further build destination awareness in these 2 markets, the HKTB initiated a 2-month content seeding from April to June with seven core local media (same above). Altogether, 181 clippings (Xi’an: 83; Qingdao: 98) were generated, focusing on Hong Kong’s multiple mega events, POIs and travel experiences, with a publicity value of HKD 3,729,727.

OOH Promotion (March)

To establish a top-of-mind awareness of Hong Kong and its tourism offerings in the two new IVS cities - Xi’an and Qingdao, The HKTB launched a 15-sec “下一站香港” video on 4 large LED screens located in high traffic CBD areas, showcasing the city’s core experiences and iconic POIs to drive conversion.

• Achieved 23.8 million impressions

Social Media Seeding (Qingdao, April - May)

To drive travel potential from the new IVS city, The HKTB invited six Qingdao KOLs to visit Hong Kong and co-create contents to highlight Hong Kong’s core experiences, latest happenings and QTS programme. The KOLs shared video contents across their social platforms including Douyin, Weibo and XHS to maximise the destination exposure.

• Achieved 10.06 million social media reach.

Partnership Promotion with Kuaishou (May - June)

The HKTB collaborated with Kuaishou, a short video platform with strong penetration in second-tier cities and beyond, to invite 10 influential local KOLs to create short videos about their travel experiences in Hong Kong, highlighting the convenience of the new IVS policy. This campaign covered 8 new IVS cities: Harbin, Hohhot, Taiyuan, Xining, Lhasa, Urumqi, Yinchuan, and Lanzhou, with a total of 10 videos released.

• Reached 15+ million social media audience
• Achieved 42+ million short video views

Media FAM (June)

Following the launch of Xi’an and Qingdao, more new IVS cities were announced including Taiyuan, Harbin, Hohhot, Xining, Yinchuan, Lanzhou, Urumqi and Lhasa. The HKTB initiated a key media FAM to invite the core media and journalists from authoritative media groups to Hong Kong for first-hand experience of the latest POIs and classic attractions:

• 17 key regional media with 18 journalists: Heilongjiang Daily, Harbin Daily, Shanxi Daily, Shanxi Newspaper Group (all media centre), Taiyuan Daily (integrated media centre), Sina IMG, Inner Mongolia Xinhua Newspaper Center, IMNMA, Gansu Daily, Lanzhou Daily, Lanzhou Evening News, Ningxia News.com, Ningxia Daily, Xihai Metropolis Daily (XHDSB), Qinghai Daily and Qinghai News.
• The 6D5N FAM showcased Hong Kong’s core experiences and offerings with 84 articles generated, achieving a publicity value of HKD 2,536,374 and a social impression of 7.3 billion.

Reality Show of 《嘉人自友約》 (March - June)

“嘉人自友約” was a talk show hosted by the famous Hong Kong actress Carina Lau (劉嘉玲), who invited her friends for a series of travel & culinary discovery across the GBA cities. The HKTB collaborated in four episodes of the program featuring Hong Kong, highlighting the diversity of culinary and travel experiences – nightlife, arts & culture, neighbourhood and outdoor. Participating guests included: Janice Man (文詠珊), Fiona Sit (薛凱琪), Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼) and Sandra Ng (吳君如). The program was aired on Jiangsu Satellite TV and Tencent Video

• Achieved HKD 252+ million publicity value
• A total of 650 social posts generated by the media achieving 62.68 million social media reach

Social Promotion of Hong Kong Sevens (May)

The HKTB collaborated with Xiaohongshu Sports to promote the international events and demonstrate Hong Kong's East-meet-West experiences as an Event Capital. As part of the promotion, Xiaohongshu Sports invited KOLs to experience the unique event ambience as well as the arts and nightlife offerings in town, including Jin Yong's centennial memorial sculpture, Art@Harbour and Temple Street.

• Achieved 3+ million social media reach

Digital & Social Promotion for Summer Chill (June)

Anchoring the different summer happenings in-town, the HKTB kicked off the summer promotion to stimulate travelling interest among young and family segments and beyond. Countless summer events and offerings included, but not limited to, the International Dragon Boat Races, S2O Festival, Waterbomb Festival, Book Fair, Happy Shopping Festival, Pyro Drone Show, concerts, 100% Doraemon & Friends, etc.

• Achieved 16+ million social media reach

Partnership with Kuaishou – “潮玩香港旅行奇遇記” Micro-video Series (June)

The HKTB leveraged Kuaishou’s travel-themed IP column “旅行奇遇記" to produce a Hong Kong series, by introducing Hong Kong to more first-timers, tapping into new potential markets and driving more conversion to the destination. Three groups of influencers participated in the content development, creating a total of 11 micro videos.

• Achieved 150+ million topic page impressions
• Achieved 18+ million micro-video views

OOH Promotion (May - June)

Leveraging the new travel trend of High-Speed Rail (HSR), The HKTB launched an OOH promotion in eight core cities within the “5-hour HSR circle” – Changsha, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Nanning, Guiyang, Wuhan, Nanchang and Shantou – to raise awareness of Hong Kong’s core experiences with call-to-action “下一站香港” messages. The advertisements are presented in three different formats: large LED screens, LCDs and smart screens in office, residential building lobby, and lifts, effectively reaching the target consumers.

• Achieved impression: 133.4 million

Media Co-op with NNTV南寧廣播電視台 (June - August)

To promote Hong Kong as a top-of-mind destination for HSR cities in Guangxi province, the HKTB leveraged the 5^th anniversary of Nanning- Hong Kong high speed rail opening, to collaborate with Nanning TV to invite media and KOCs to explore the city based on five different themed routes including arts & culture, outdoor, neighbourhood, family fun and festivals. The news reports were broadcast on the TV news programme新聞夜班and 文旅直通車, with social posts released on several platforms such as 南寧廣播電視台’s Douyin, WeChat Video and Kuaishou. Furthermore, the contents have been deployed in Guangxi provincial media and Nanning Metro TV for additional exposure.

• In total, 23 news reports were broadcast and 60+ social videos posted. Publicity value exceeds HK$19 million

Chinese New Year Promotion – Tactical Co-op (January - February 2024)

The HKTB collaborated with eight key partners from Beijing, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Shenyang, Dalian, Harbin to promote Hong Kong CNY tour products during January to February. Through OOH, radio channels, Bank APP, and Metro screen, various package tour, semi-FIT and FIT products have been featured, attracting mid-class, family and young tourists to visit Hong Kong and experience cheerful CNY holiday.

• A total of 5,275 packages sold

For Eastern China, the HKTB also collaborated with three influential travel agencies in Qingdao, Nanjing and Hangzhou, to develop semi-guided, fully guided and FIT packages to drive visitation amongst affluent and family segments. These packages were promoted via various both online and offline channels including WeChat, Xiaohongshu, Douyin and OOH.

• A total of 3,971 packages sold

Affluent Segment Promotion (March 2024)

The HKTB partnered with four luxury agencies to promote Art Month and related events in Hong Kong. High-end package tours featuring “luxury hotels + art” attracted high-net-worth-individuals to visit Hong Kong.

• A total of 3,652 pax sold

HeyTrip GBA Promotion (March - May 2024)

The HKTB collaborated with HeyTrip to showcase Hong Kong’s ongoing new activities and position the destination as 常去常新, to draw repeaters and overnight visitors from the GBA with enjoyable short-break holiday packages (小而美假期). KOLs were invited to share their Hong Kong experiences to drive social buzz on Douyin and Xiaohongshu, along with outdoor large screen LED ads in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan to maximise exposure.

• In total 50,432 pax and 5,588 room nights sold

Tuniu HSR Cities Promotion (May - August 2024)

Leveraging Tuniu’s strength on Douyin, the HKTB partnered with the OTA to launch the HSR products and customised tour packages, to drive arrivals from consumers living within the “5-hours HSR Circle”. KOLs were invited to share their Hong Kong travel experiences to generate relevant contents for Douyin live-streaming and promotion. Conversion was also boosted via the gimmick of dual guide tours.

• In total 466,263 pax and 71,223 room nights sold.

Meituan Hong Kong Destination Promotion (May - December 2024)

The HKTB, in collaboration with Meituan, launched the "美團香港真惠玩" promotion to drive visits amongst the young consumers. A series of Hong Kong travel coupon packages and hotel discount products were developed and launched during Meituan's popular events "527趣玩節" and "境外酒店周年慶," leveraging the media’s strong promotional resources to stimulate early summer vacation bookings.

• By end June, the campaign achieved 57+ million impressions, with 80,000+ hotel room nights sold

Trade Promotion for New IVS Cities (June - July 2024)

In response to the State Council's policy of IVS cities’ expansion, the HKTB held press conferences on the theme of "自在啟程，優遊香港" in Xi 'an (13 March) and Qingdao (14 March). In support of the new initiatives, a total of 15 local Government representatives (Xi’an: 6; Qingdao: 9) and 52 trade partners (Xi’an: 28; Qingdao: 24) have attended the conference. The invited partners have continued to develop and promote quality travel products of Hong Kong in their respective markets. 24 trade partners have subsequently updated their company publication or website to include latest products of Hong Kong.

On 27 May, the second batch of new IVS cities was announced, the HKTB invited 19 industry partners from eight cities to Hong Kong from 2 to 6 June, to familiarise and experience the latest and core Hong Kong’s offerings. Altogether, 35 posts on social media about the Hong Kong experience have been shared.

MICE Promotion in Both Core Cities and High Potential 2nd Tier Cities (January - June 2024)

The HKTB has organised an industry gathering before the IT&CM trade show to enhance trade engagement in the Northern China market. During the event, the HKTB introduced Hong Kong MICE’s latest development and upcoming “Incentive Playbook,” as well as facilitating idea exchange between MICE buyers and Hong Kong Partners via interactive games and onsite business matching appointments.

• 68 MICE buyers from Beijing and Tianjin attended the event
• 21 Hong Kong partners from attractions, hotels and DMCs participated
• More than 480 business matching were made

MICE Promotion in Both Core Cities and High Potential 2^nd Tier Cities (Cont’d)

Xiamen and Chengdu are the high potential second-tier cities in Southern and Western China respectively, with great demand for MICE services. The HKTB has organised trade events in January (Xiamen) and June 2024 (Chengdu) to highlight Hong Kong’s advantages, new MICE products, “Incentive Playbook” programs and the incentive policy.

• 36 MICE agents from Xiamen and 25 MICE agents from Chengdu attended the events.
• 4 Hong Kong partners from airlines and attraction participated.

Joint Promotion with MICE Trade Partners (January - March 2024)

To strengthen direct engagement with the high-potential corporates and precisely drive MICE groups demand from targeted industries, the HKTB collaborated with leading MICE trade partners in the core and potential markets to conduct joint promotion to demonstrate Hong Kong’s MICE advantages. The HKTB cooperated separately with C&D in Xiamen in January and CYTS MICE in Shanghai in March, to jointly organise corporate business events, aiming to influence the corporate decision makers to choose Hong Kong as destination for their MICE events. 

• 24 corporate buyers from various industries covering finance, insurance, direct selling, technology, FMCG, aesthetic medicine, etc. joined the event in Shanghai. Received 6 group leads with 15,000+ pax.
• Ten corporate buyers from main industries including manufacturing, insurance, FMCG attended the event in Xiamen. Received four group inquiries to Hong Kong, adding up to around 3,500 pax.

MICE Mini Program Upgrade & “Hong Kong Incentive Playbook” Online Promotion (January - March 2024)

Revamped the MICE WeChat Mini Program as a long-term digital platform by enriching more than 300 POIs, improving the reclassified and search engine and upgrading key functions to facilitate user access of the information and resources in a more direct and user-friendly manner. In addition, two integrated campaigns were launched to promote the "Hong Kong Incentive Playbook” with new MICE venues and experiences, to attract new potential trade partners to sign up for the Mini program, and thereby driving MICE group arrivals to Hong Kong. 

• Attracted 1,182 users to participate in the integrated campaign
• Achieved 500+ pax new users
• Total impression reached 150,000

IT&CM China and CTW China 2024 (26 - 28 March 2024, Shanghai)

After two successful Virtual Editions in 2020 and 2021, the 1^st Hybrid Edition in 2023, IT&CM China and CTW China 2024 returned to Shanghai for offline exhibition and face-to-face meetings.

A total of 503 MICE, Association and Corporate Buyers across 23 territories / countries from China and beyond participated in the trade show. A total of 1,263 business appointments were made by 35 exhibitors of the Hong Kong delegation from hotels, attractions, venues, DMCs, airlines, and so on. Moreover, 123 business appointments were made by the HKTB and 18 group leads has generated a total of 5,050 pax. The HKTB successfully held two brand showcases for destination promotion during the trade show and drove total traffics of about 150 buyers. TTG also conducted an in-depth post-show report on the Hong Kong’s MICE resources.

2024 MICE Trade Mega FAM (23 - 26 April 2024)

The HKTB invited 40 Mainland MICE travel agents to attend MICE Trade Mega FAM. During the FAM, the HKTB carried out a reward ceremony on “Hong Kong Incentive Playbook” launch and “Top Agents Celebration” to award the 2023 good performance agents, as well as launching the new themed and creative MICE itineraries “Hong Kong Incentive Playbook”. The representatives also experienced the new MICE product “study tour” and teambuilding activities designed for corporate, which has enhanced the attractiveness of Hong Kong MICE products and helped the agents explore more MICE groups to Hong Kong.

• 40 Mainland MICE travel agents connected with 150 Hong Kong partners who attended the ceremony and did a 1-hour business communication session.
• Received 46 group inquiries with 13,200 pax.

2024 Mainland Corporate FAM “Incentive Innovation Trip” (27 June - 1 July 2024)

The HKTB invited 30 nationwide potential corporate buyers to Hong Kong to inspect the latest MICE resources, experience five themes and creative itineraries of the latest launched "Hong Kong Incentive Playbook” and promote study tours designed for enterprises, to redefine Hong Kong MICE destination appeal and drive MICE groups arrival through corporate engagement.

• Attracted 30 Mainland corporate buyers from various industries to participate the FAM tour
• Received 35 potential group leads with total visitors of 45,000 pax