THE Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced that visitor arrivals from the Middle East to Hong Kong recorded a year-on-year increase of 4.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2013, with markets in the GCC region showing robust growth of 13.1 per cent.
Anthony Lau, executive director of the HKTB, said: “We are delighted to see positive growth in the GCC markets. In recent years, the HKTB has been actively developing new markets to open up visitor sources for Hong Kong. Given the healthy growth and spending power of consumers in the region, the GCC area has been identified as one of Hong Kong’s key new markets. Leveraging the growth momentum, we will focus on attracting the family and young segments in the market, and sustain our investment to develop the long-term potential of this region.”In order to foster a closer working relationship with its trade partners in the GCC markets, the tourism board recently appointed Gulf Reps as its trade representative in the region.In addition to trade promotion, the HKTB is planning a series of initiatives in the coming months that aim at driving more arrivals to Hong Kong in the post-Ramadan holiday. Major activities include the launch of an Arabic version of the HKTB’s DiscoverHongKong.com website and the publication of an Arabic travel guidebook targeting family visitors. Visitors from the GCC markets can obtain more information about Hong Kong via these two channels.