Bangkok--26 Jun--HKTB
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and Visa International jointly announced their collaboration to promote the 2007 Hong Kong Shopping Festival.
As part of the collaboration, the HKTB will join with Visa International to launch ‘Visa Preferred Merchants Tourist Offers’ which give Visa cardholders a range of shopping, dining, sightseeing, and well-being and personal care offers at select merchants.
Both organizations will run a series of promotional activities with Visa International’s member financial institutions, through websites and with media in Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines. They will also advertise the Mega Event on major internet search engines and various locations with high tourism traffic, such as the Airport Express and KCR East Rail stations. In addition, promotional leaflets will be distributed at local hotels across Hong Kong.
To reward international visitors who make purchases with their Visa cards in Hong Kong, Visa cardholders will enjoy a free twist cone from any McDonald’s outlet in Hong Kong when they spend HK$200 or above on their Visa cards at any Visa merchant, as well as discounts and free gifts when shopping at designated merchant outlets from the launch of the Festival until end September 2007.
Mr Lambert Chan, General Manager, Destination Marketing of the HKTB said that by enlisting even more sectors to participate in this year’s Festival, the HKTB aims to strengthen the promotion of the Festival, which will tie in with the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). “We’re deeply grateful for Visa’s tremendous support in helping us promote this Mega Event in our key source markets,” he remarked. “We’re confident that the synergy gained from our collaboration will enable us to reinforce the publicity for the Festival. The joint venture also illustrates the HKTB’s continuous effort to partner with different sectors in maximising the cost-effectiveness of our promotions.”
“We are happy to announce today that, for the first time, Visa is partnering with the HKTB as part of its shopping festival to promote tourism in Asia’s World City — Hong Kong,” said James Dixon, Country Manager, Hong Kong and Macau, Visa International. “Visa’s convenient and secure payment platform is a useful tool for tourists around the world. In 2006, tourists to Hong Kong spent HK$17 billion (US$2.2 billion) on their Visa cards, up 11 percent year-on-year . This growth shows that tourists are actively using their Visa cards to settle payments in Hong Kong. In conjunction with this year’s Hong Kong Shopping Festival, we are launching the three-month ‘Visa Preferred Merchants Tourist Offers’ promotional campaign, giving tourists special gifts and discounts when they use their Visa cards at select merchants.”
The 2007 Hong Kong Shopping Festival will run from 30 June to 31 August. Organised by the HKTB for the sixth consecutive year, the mega summer shopping promotion has become a firm fixture on the city’s events calendar. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Hong Kong SAR, the HKTB has invited different sectors across the city to participate in the 2007 Hong Kong Shopping Festival so as to create a wonderful summer shopping experience for visitors.
On top of a host of special privileges by the retail and catering sectors, hotels, travel agencies, transportation operators and major tourism attractions, the multimedia show A Symphony of Lights will be enhanced with special pyrotechnics every Saturday from 14 July to end August. In addition, various trade associations and retail organisations will stage an array of themed activities and product expos, including the Chinese Medicine Expo, Luxury Timepiece Exhibition, Hong Kong Beauty & Make-up Carnival and 2007 Diamond Expo, while several dining districts will also organise festive activities. The HKTB will widely publicise these activities, as well as the many 10th-anniversary celebrations in town, so as to enrich visitors’ experiences.
Media can download the press release from DiscoverHongKong.com
http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/worldwide/medi/ww_medi_news.jhtml
About Hong Kong Tourism Board
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), a Government-subvented body, was founded in 2001. It has 15 branch offices and six representative offices around the world, and its primary mission is to maximise the social and economic contribution that tourism makes to the community of Hong Kong, and consolidate the city’s position as a unique, world-class and most desired destination. In fulfilling this, the HKTB works closely with the Government, travel industry and other partners to market and promote Hong Kong worldwide, improve the range and quality of visitor facilities and tourism service standards, and enhance the experiences of visitors once they have arrived.
About Visa
Visa connects cardholders, merchants and financial institutions through the world's largest electronic payments network. Visa products allow buyers and sellers to conduct commerce with ease and confidence in both the physical and virtual worlds. Visa is committed to the sustained growth of electronic payment systems to support the needs of all stakeholders and to drive economic growth. Visa products currently generate more than $4.6 trillion in sales volume worldwide. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world. In addition, Visa/Plus is one of the world’s largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries. For more information, visit www.corporate.visa.com . In Hong Kong, there are currently 8.5 million Visa Cards in circulation, generating a retail sales volume of HK$161.4 billion at the point of sale for the 12 months ended 31 December 2006. Visa Hong Kong’s Internet address is www.visa.com.hk .
For more information, please contact;
Ms. Wandee Lerdsupongkit/Ms. Wipakorn Komonkitisakul
Hong Kong Tourism Information Centre C/o Francom Asia Ltd.
Tel. 0 2636 8339 Fax. 0 2236 8030
Email: [email protected]