close_game
close_game

Travel alert: Hong Kong expects to double Indian travellers this year to boost tourism

PTI | | Posted by Krishna Priya Pallavi, Mumbai
Aug 24, 2024 05:02 PM IST

Hong Kong welcomed 340 lakh international visitors in 2023, and overall 210 lakh travellers visited the country between January-June this year.

Hong Kong is expecting to double the number of Indian travellers this year with a line-up of festivals and events to boost tourism, a top executive of HK Tourism Board has said.

Tourists walk in front of the skyline of buildings at Tsim Sha Tsui, in Hong Kong. (REUTERS)
Tourists walk in front of the skyline of buildings at Tsim Sha Tsui, in Hong Kong. (REUTERS)

Last year, 2,08,000 Indians travelled to Hong Kong. (Also Read | September travel alert: Top 6 most beautiful treks in India)

Hong Kong wants to double Indian travellers to boost tourism

"We want to double this number this year and have many festivals and events lined up to boost tourism this year. In the first half of 2024, Hong Kong welcomed 1,81,000 visitors from India, which is 89 per cent of the pre-Covid time," Hong Kong Tourism Board Director, South Asia and Middle East, Puneet Kumar told PTI.

Looking at this growth in momentum, the HK Tourism Board is hoping to cross the pre-Covid (2018) level of tourist arrivals this year, he added.

Hong Kong Tourism Board takes 2018 as the benchmark for pre-Covid times as in 2019, the tourism industry almost came to a standstill with cancellation of hundreds of flights as the country saw protests against the Hong Kong government's introduction of a bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance with regard to extradition.

In 2018, about 4 lakh Indians and overall 330 lakh international travellers visited the country.

(Also Read | Jet lag tips: How to avoid the worst of jet lag and maximize your travel time)

Hong Kong welcomed 340 lakh international visitors in 2023, and overall 210 lakh travellers visited the country between January-June this year.

Kumar further highlighted that the HK Tourism Board is promoting the country as an all-year round destination with mega events and festivals. The destination presents ease of travel with great connectivity between Hong Kong and all metro cities in India and it being a visa-free destination.

"Hong Kong is visa-free for Indian travellers, who require only a pre-arrival registration on the Hong Kong immigration website, which takes about 10 minutes," Kumar said.

Targetting Gen Zs and the millennials

In India, Hong Kong is mainly targeting Gen Zs and the Millennials (anyone born between 1981 to 2012), who are driving the robust growth in the tourism industry of the country.

"Our focus is to drive frequent travel and repeat travel. Therefore, we are promoting Hong Kong as the event capital of Asia. This age group is very interested in attending events like concerts and festivals and that means we want to give them reasons to travel frequently to Hong Kong," he added.

(Also Read | Angkor Wat Temple Run trend: Boosting tourism or damaging heritage?)

The Hong Kong Tourism Board is mainly looking at the leisure and the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) segment.

"In the leisure segment we are mainly targeting family and the cruise travellers. In the business travel segment there is MICE. In fact, India is among the top five markets for incentive group travel for Hong Kong," he stated.

He said Indians are among the top five spenders in Hong Kong with an average spending of HKD (Hong Kong Dollar) 9.139 per person.

Even the length of stay of Indian travellers has gone up to an average of 4.5 days from 3 days in 2018, Kumar added.

Catch every big hit,...
See more
Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crick-it, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Quizzes, Polls & much more. Explore now!.

Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Taylor Swift, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs.
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, October 04, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On