HK tourism advertising campaigns receive global recognition

Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) said Friday that it has been recognized worldwide for its marketing excellence in promoting the destination image of Hong Kong and motivating travelers to come to the city.

The HKTB said in a press release Friday that since it launched "Hong Kong -- Live it, Love it!" global advertising campaign and mega-event programs 15 months ago, the tourism industry has staged a remarkable recovery and recorded robust growth.

The HKTB said these successful strategies have now earned the board at least 15 prestigious awards from influential organization in the United States, Italy, Germany and some other places.

The awards for "Hong Kong -- Live it, Love it!" include Gold Winner under the "Advertising: TV Campaign" category and Gold Winner under the "Advertising: TV Single Sport" category from the United States, Golden Compass Award under the " Sports + Clips" category from Germany, and Best Spot Advertisement -- Tourism under the "Film & Video" category.

Featuring television, radio, print, on-line and outdoor advertising in 16 key markets worldwide, the "Hong Kong -- Live it, Love it!" global advertising campaign is designed to convey the message that visiting Hong Kong is a real multi-dimensional experience that will energize visitors' every sense, and that they will live every moment of it and love it for life.

HKTB Executive Director Clara Chong said that the advertising campaign has been very effective in building awareness of Hong Kong's destination appeal worldwide. For the first nine months this year, visitor arrivals already passed the 15.7 million mark and exceeded the total for the full year of 2003.

She said, given such strong momentum, the board has recently increased its full-year target to 21.36 million visitors.

She added that Hong Kong will continue to enhance global awareness of the city with spectacular mega-events.

Source: Xinhua