Japan
Japan and Hong Kong have enjoyed close tourism ties for many years. As we continued to promote Hong Kong’s dynamic city life and kaleidoscope of experiences in our fifth largest tourism market, we proposed new multi-destination tours to Japanese travellers, riding on the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area) and the launch of the two magnificent infrastructure, the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB).
Hong Kong Week – Greater Bay Area Showcase
- Global publicity value generated by the event: HK$23.7 million
“Hong Kong Week – Greater Bay Area Showcase”, a four-day consumer show organised by the HKTB at Tokyo’s KITTE shopping mall in November 2018, promoted Hong Kong as the ideal starting point of multi-destination journeys in the Greater Bay Area.
The event highlighted Hong Kong’s unique tourism offerings while introducing its new infrastructure that had made travelling to the Mainland more convenient. Our Hong Kong Neighbourhoods promotion Old Town Central was recreated with a miniature model, and a replica of Large Mouth Dragon Boy, a street art painting by Japanese celebrity and artist Shingo Katori in the neighbourhood, was exhibited. Katori even made a surprise appearance and shared his travel experience in Hong Kong with Japanese consumers.
On top of the consumer show, a luncheon briefing was organised with the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office and Hong Kong Trade Development Council, followed by a trade seminar and cocktail reception. Japanese officials and over 160 trade partners from Japan and the Greater Bay Area took part in the trade events.
Launch of Hong Kong-Japan Tourism Year
- Publicity value generated by the media event with Shingo Fujimori: HK$12.4 million
Another large-scale campaign was Hong Kong-Japan Tourism Year, jointly launched by the HKTB, the Japan National Tourism Organization and the Japan Tourism Agency.
Following the announcement of the initiative at the Tourism EXPO Japan in September 2018, we organised a media event in January 2019 to unveil special offers for Japanese travellers throughout Hong Kong-Japan Tourism Year. At the event, Japanese celebrity Shingo Fujimori was appointed as the new “Star Hong Kong Mai”, a Hong Kong tourism ambassador. Fujimori had lived in Hong Kong for three years when he was young and is very fond of the city, to which he travels at least once a year. His photos and video messages from the media event and media tours in Hong Kong were featured on multiple platforms to capture the interest of Japanese consumers.
Indulging in Hong Kong delights with Hanako magazine
- Publicity value generated by the Hanako cooperation: HK$12 million
With monthly lifestyle magazine Hanako, we showcased some of Hong Kong’s hottest experiences that appealed to Japanese travellers, from dim sum to pastries, art, bars and night views, in a cover story of over 80 pages, featuring Hong Kong model and actress Angela Yuen. A special 12-page booklet The Places HK fans and locals go was inserted in the magazine to present secret spots favourited by Japanese celebrities and expatriates in Hong Kong. We also distributed 30,000 copies of the booklet at consumer and trade events to pique interest. The issue was widely promoted at 40 major train stations in Tokyo and Osaka and on Hanako’s digital platform.
