Shopping festival kicks off in HK

The Hong Kong Shopping Festival was officially launched here Saturday night, which would provide an excellent business platform for the tourism-related industries and more excitement to shoppers and diners.

Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Selina Chow promised that the two-month festival would extend beyond the delights of shopping to include dining, entertainment and celebrations that created an unforgettable "total experience" for visitors.

"When we first staged similar event two years ago, 2,200 outlets participated in the event. This year, some 6,300 outlets have confirmed their participation. Among them, 3,100 will operate until at least 10:00 pm to tie in with our late-night shopping and dining theme," said the tourism chief.

In addition, over 1,000 outlets accredited under the Quality Tourism Services (QTS) scheme have undertaken to provide special privileges to visitors, she added.

The four major shopping themes of the festival are, Fashion and Beauty, Jewelry and Watches, Consumer Electronics and Chinese Traditions. In addition to special programs such as product displays put together by trade organizations, different food districts are taking turns to stage food festivals and many outlets are offering special visitor menus.

To create even more incentive for visitors to spend, the HKTB is organizing a Lucky Draw that features 56 fabulous prizes worth more than 2.5 million HK dollars (320,000 US dollars) in total. For every spending of 300 HK dollars (38 dollars) or more on a single receipt at the participating merchants or restaurants, the purchaser can collect one lucky draw entry coupon at the redemption counters located around the city.

Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Henry Tang and some 500 visitors traveling to Hong Kong for the festival was present at the opening ceremony Saturday night.

Source: Xinhua