Attract Travellers from the World with Sun Tzu’s Wisdom
Attract Travellers from the World with Sun Tzu’s Wisdom
The source text is in Chinese. This English version is for reference only. In case of any discrepancy between this English version and the Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.
As outlined in the chapter titled "Attack by Stratagem" in Sun Tzu's The Art of War , if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Translated into Hong Kong’s tourism development strategy, "knowing your enemy" signifies a comprehensive understanding of the expectations and travel behaviours from diverse source markets, whereas "knowing yourself" entails a deep exploration of Hong Kong’s resources and reputation in the global context. It is essential for Hong Kong to combine these two elements if it is to leverage its attractiveness and competitive advantages in each source market, allowing for effective strategies tailoring and suitable marketing channels utilisation. However, the current discussion on expanding Hong Kong’s visitor source markets often roughly focuses on the general classification of Mainland visitors and foreigners from overseas emerging markets, while limited attention is given to other market segments. However, the significant potential presented in other Asian markets can be clearly observed from the latest tourism statistics. By capitalising on these markets as opportunities, Hong Kong can possibly diversify and widen its source markets.
Diverse Mainland Visitors
Attracted great public attention, visitor arrivals to Hong Kong have long been dominated by Mainland visitors, representing approximately 80% of total arrivals. Notably, the Mainland visitors are far from a homogenous group. Given the considerable size of the Mainland, the huge regional differences, and variations in visitors’ perceptions of tourism in Hong Kong, there is significant room for Hong Kong’s tourism promotion in the Mainland, particularly in the inland provincial markets.
According to the Visitor Profile Report in the first half of 2024 published by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), visitors from Guangdong Province accounted for around 70% of all Mainland visitors. Owing to the travel convenience offered by the transportation infrastructure such as the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge, and the earlier relaxation of multiple-entry Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) for Shenzhen permanent residents, Hong Kong is an easily accessible and highly familiar destination for these visitors, and visits are typically made on impulse. The short-haul arrivals visit Hong Kong for atypical travel experiences, including distinctive sights, in-depth itineraries, and exploration of hidden gems and unique local shops. For example, horse racing is a strong Hong Kong-style activity that is always appealing for the frequent short-haul Mainland visitors. This suggests a great opportunity for the development of horse racing and tourism in Hong Kong, with a view to attracting the visitors to return and potentially become regular attendees at the city’s horse racing events.
Visitors from other provinces can be further segmented. For example, among the ten Mainland cities newly included in the IVS last year, eight are provincial capitals with many big spenders. Compared to visitors from Guangdong, these travellers are relatively unfamiliar with Hong Kong. Traditional attractions such as Victoria Harbour and the Peak therefore remain major attractions. Meanwhile, for other cities have introduced IVS earlier, Hong Kong’s traditional attractions are already well known to them. However, given their longer travel distances compared to the Guangdong ones, city walks alone may not be compelling enough. Hong Kong could leverage its strengths in cruises, conventions and exhibitions, and a mega events capital to create exciting new experiences that would attract these visitors to return.
Southeast Asian Travellers’ Preferences Vary
Since the full resumption of normal travel, traveller arrivals from Southeast Asia have shown a strong trend of recovery, recording the fastest speed among all source markets. Thanks to the longstanding close economic and trade ties and the frequent people-to-people exchanges, Southeast Asian travellers are generally familiar with Hong Kong. This familiarity likely allows for a wider range of tourism product marketing. Increasing the promotion on family-friendly attractions is recommended, targeting the Southeast Asian travellers who favour family trips.
Hong Kong’s internationalised, world-class theme parks are of particular appeal to the burgeoning middle class, as evidenced by the record-breaking number of travellers from the Philippines last year, which exceeded the pre-pandemic level. As highlighted in the aforementioned HKTB report, the theme parks were their most frequently visited attractions. Noteworthily, the theme parks were also placed among the top-three attractions for Indonesian, Malaysian, and Thai travellers. Reviews further highlighted the usage of biliteracy and trilingualism in Hong Kong’s theme parks as a distinctive feature for the provision of a more memorable experience compared to theme parks in other regions.
Furthermore, Hong Kong’s strong cultural foundation is one of its key assets, shaping Southeast Asian travellers’ perceptions and aspirations toward the city. Benefitting from the soft cultural power of Hong Kong’s golden age in movies and television, the vintage ambience of local streets greatly attracts travellers from Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, as evidenced by the perennial high popularity of Temple Street and Ladies' Market among these travellers. The lesser-known religious elements of the city also appeal to travellers. For instance, in the first half of last year, the most frequently visited attraction among Thai travellers was Wong Tai Sin Temple. They also actively participated in pilgrimages to temples across Hong Kong and appreciated Operas for Appeasing Gods at the Hungry Ghost Festival.
Indian Market Should Be on the Radar
Among other emerging source markets with great potential, current focus is largely on the Middle East, particularly the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) formed by six member states (namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), which boast strong economic growth prospects and where the outbound travel industry is relatively nascent. Notably, all these factors are also applicable to the often overlooked India market. Since 2014, India’s GDP has grown at an average annual rate of 6%, excluding the pandemic year of 2020. Recently, its growth rate has rivalled or even surpassed that of the Mainland.
Referring to the abovementioned HKTB report, in the first half of last year, Indian travellers stayed for an average of 4.2 nights and spent HKD 9,100 per capita during their visits to Hong Kong. Both figures surpassed those from Mainland and Southeast Asia. Over the years, Mainland visitors have been regarded as big spenders, yet their per capita spending during the same period stood at only HKD 5,100. In terms of per capita spending, attracting one Indian traveller is almost equivalent to attracting two Mainland visitors. It is also worth noting that the proportion of first-time travellers from India was around 50% in 2018, 2023, and 2024, indicating substantial untapped potential. Beyond increasing promotion in the Indian market, given that aviation capacity between Hong Kong and India in the first half of last year had only recovered to about 60% of 2018 levels, Hong Kong should also increase the number of direct flights to and from India, facilitating travel to the city.
Hong Kong has been one of Asia’s most popular tourist destinations for many years, offering abundant high-quality tourism resources catering to a wide range of travellers. The figures indicated the significant potential of Hong Kong’s existing key sources markets and the emerging ones. Through in-depth research and identification of the preferences of each potential market, tailored strategies can be developed to promote corresponding tourism products and create demand among different visitor segments, ultimately achieving the vision of "visitors from all parts of the world gather in Hong Kong".
The source text is in Chinese. This English version is for reference only. In case of any discrepancy between this English version and the Chinese version, the Chinese version shall prevail.
As outlined in the chapter titled "Attack by Stratagem" in Sun Tzu's The Art of War , if you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Translated into Hong Kong’s tourism development strategy, "knowing your enemy" signifies a comprehensive understanding of the expectations and travel behaviours from diverse source markets, whereas "knowing yourself" entails a deep exploration of Hong Kong’s resources and reputation in the global context. It is essential for Hong Kong to combine these two elements if it is to leverage its attractiveness and competitive advantages in each source market, allowing for effective strategies tailoring and suitable marketing channels utilisation. However, the current discussion on expanding Hong Kong’s visitor source markets often roughly focuses on the general classification of Mainland visitors and foreigners from overseas emerging markets, while limited attention is given to other market segments. However, the significant potential presented in other Asian markets can be clearly observed from the latest tourism statistics. By capitalising on these markets as opportunities, Hong Kong can possibly diversify and widen its source markets.
Diverse Mainland Visitors
Attracted great public attention, visitor arrivals to Hong Kong have long been dominated by Mainland visitors, representing approximately 80% of total arrivals. Notably, the Mainland visitors are far from a homogenous group. Given the considerable size of the Mainland, the huge regional differences, and variations in visitors’ perceptions of tourism in Hong Kong, there is significant room for Hong Kong’s tourism promotion in the Mainland, particularly in the inland provincial markets.
According to the Visitor Profile Report in the first half of 2024 published by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), visitors from Guangdong Province accounted for around 70% of all Mainland visitors. Owing to the travel convenience offered by the transportation infrastructure such as the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge, and the earlier relaxation of multiple-entry Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) for Shenzhen permanent residents, Hong Kong is an easily accessible and highly familiar destination for these visitors, and visits are typically made on impulse. The short-haul arrivals visit Hong Kong for atypical travel experiences, including distinctive sights, in-depth itineraries, and exploration of hidden gems and unique local shops. For example, horse racing is a strong Hong Kong-style activity that is always appealing for the frequent short-haul Mainland visitors. This suggests a great opportunity for the development of horse racing and tourism in Hong Kong, with a view to attracting the visitors to return and potentially become regular attendees at the city’s horse racing events.
Visitors from other provinces can be further segmented. For example, among the ten Mainland cities newly included in the IVS last year, eight are provincial capitals with many big spenders. Compared to visitors from Guangdong, these travellers are relatively unfamiliar with Hong Kong. Traditional attractions such as Victoria Harbour and the Peak therefore remain major attractions. Meanwhile, for other cities have introduced IVS earlier, Hong Kong’s traditional attractions are already well known to them. However, given their longer travel distances compared to the Guangdong ones, city walks alone may not be compelling enough. Hong Kong could leverage its strengths in cruises, conventions and exhibitions, and a mega events capital to create exciting new experiences that would attract these visitors to return.
Southeast Asian Travellers’ Preferences Vary
Since the full resumption of normal travel, traveller arrivals from Southeast Asia have shown a strong trend of recovery, recording the fastest speed among all source markets. Thanks to the longstanding close economic and trade ties and the frequent people-to-people exchanges, Southeast Asian travellers are generally familiar with Hong Kong. This familiarity likely allows for a wider range of tourism product marketing. Increasing the promotion on family-friendly attractions is recommended, targeting the Southeast Asian travellers who favour family trips.
Hong Kong’s internationalised, world-class theme parks are of particular appeal to the burgeoning middle class, as evidenced by the record-breaking number of travellers from the Philippines last year, which exceeded the pre-pandemic level. As highlighted in the aforementioned HKTB report, the theme parks were their most frequently visited attractions. Noteworthily, the theme parks were also placed among the top-three attractions for Indonesian, Malaysian, and Thai travellers. Reviews further highlighted the usage of biliteracy and trilingualism in Hong Kong’s theme parks as a distinctive feature for the provision of a more memorable experience compared to theme parks in other regions.
Furthermore, Hong Kong’s strong cultural foundation is one of its key assets, shaping Southeast Asian travellers’ perceptions and aspirations toward the city. Benefitting from the soft cultural power of Hong Kong’s golden age in movies and television, the vintage ambience of local streets greatly attracts travellers from Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, as evidenced by the perennial high popularity of Temple Street and Ladies' Market among these travellers. The lesser-known religious elements of the city also appeal to travellers. For instance, in the first half of last year, the most frequently visited attraction among Thai travellers was Wong Tai Sin Temple. They also actively participated in pilgrimages to temples across Hong Kong and appreciated Operas for Appeasing Gods at the Hungry Ghost Festival.
Indian Market Should Be on the Radar
Among other emerging source markets with great potential, current focus is largely on the Middle East, particularly the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) formed by six member states (namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), which boast strong economic growth prospects and where the outbound travel industry is relatively nascent. Notably, all these factors are also applicable to the often overlooked India market. Since 2014, India’s GDP has grown at an average annual rate of 6%, excluding the pandemic year of 2020. Recently, its growth rate has rivalled or even surpassed that of the Mainland.
Referring to the abovementioned HKTB report, in the first half of last year, Indian travellers stayed for an average of 4.2 nights and spent HKD 9,100 per capita during their visits to Hong Kong. Both figures surpassed those from Mainland and Southeast Asia. Over the years, Mainland visitors have been regarded as big spenders, yet their per capita spending during the same period stood at only HKD 5,100. In terms of per capita spending, attracting one Indian traveller is almost equivalent to attracting two Mainland visitors. It is also worth noting that the proportion of first-time travellers from India was around 50% in 2018, 2023, and 2024, indicating substantial untapped potential. Beyond increasing promotion in the Indian market, given that aviation capacity between Hong Kong and India in the first half of last year had only recovered to about 60% of 2018 levels, Hong Kong should also increase the number of direct flights to and from India, facilitating travel to the city.
Hong Kong has been one of Asia’s most popular tourist destinations for many years, offering abundant high-quality tourism resources catering to a wide range of travellers. The figures indicated the significant potential of Hong Kong’s existing key sources markets and the emerging ones. Through in-depth research and identification of the preferences of each potential market, tailored strategies can be developed to promote corresponding tourism products and create demand among different visitor segments, ultimately achieving the vision of "visitors from all parts of the world gather in Hong Kong".
