How visitors see Hong Kong depends a lot on their experience with the people during their trip. That is why we highly encourage our fellow locals to join us in being a good host to the guests of our city. Through the Hong Kong Pals programme, we give those who are passionate about Hong Kong and want to actively participate in promoting their home city the opportunities to interact with visitors from all over the world.
Hong Kong Pals: friends of visitors
- Service provided by the Hong Kong Pals: over 7,300 hours of volunteer service for 76,000 visitors
- Number of Meet the Pals activities booked during the year: over 110
Our Hong Kong Pals programme had entered its 10th year! The family of 82 volunteers – half of whom had stayed in the programme for over five years – served as ambassadors and greeted visitors with warming hospitality at our visitor centres and mega events. During the year, the programme service was expanded to the new visitor centre at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, so that it now covers five physical service points.
Catching up with the digital trend, some Hong Kong Pals began answering enquiries from visitors through our online chat service. In fact, we employed an innovative method to recruit new Hong Kong Pals in 2018/19 by asking candidates to chat with our experienced Pals online to demonstrate their tourism knowledge and competency in using digital tools.
Various volunteers also continued to offer their knowledge on specific topics about Hong Kong through the “Meet the Pals” programme. Like a virtual tour guide, they provided their personal tips to help visitors experience Hong Kong like a local.
