HKTB promotes 'Arts in Hong Kong' in full force with year-round events

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has gone all out to promote “Arts in Hong Kong” with year-round promotions and various international art events across Hong Kong, including Art Central, Art Basel Hong Kong and a time-limited junk boat tour.

This aims to attract visitors from around the globe and encourage them to embark on a unique art and cultural journey in Hong Kong, a spokesperson from HKTB told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

“The promotion of ‘Arts in HK’ creates opportunities for marketers and advertisers to implement offerings to the target local and visitor segments. By leveraging the hit of ‘Art March’ and ‘Arts in HK’, they can also develop engaging content to capture the attention of potential customers,” the spokesperson added.

Apart from art exhibitions Art Central and Art Basel Hong Kong which took place over the past weekend, HKTB has also presented “Arts in Hong Kong Newsstand”, an installation that highlights local aesthetics and the common ground where people connect and exchange ideas.

To mark the centenary of the birth of Jin Yong (Louis Cha), a literary giant in Chinese literature, the HKTB has also unveiled the exhibition “The world of Wuxia” which is available until 2 July, and will showcase 10 sculptures of classic Jin Yong characters, including Xiaolongnu, Yang Guo, Abbess Miejue, Zhou Botong, created by sculptor Ren Zhe.

The exhibition features a Mongolian yurt inspired by The Eagle-shooting Heroes to offer visitors an immersive experience with augmented reality technology in the exhibition. The HKTB will also launch the “Jinyong Harbour Tour Guide”, which encourages visitors and the public to visit the classic martial arts warriors along the harbour and embark on an interactive tour to visit the "Wuxia".

Jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Japanese teamLab, HKTB has also unveiled the light installation “teamLab: Continuous” featuring hundreds of illuminated, colourful ovoids between 25 March and 2 June along the Victoria Harbour. Giant, vibrant inflatable “bubble-texture”, designed by an Australia-based studio, has also made its debut reveal in Hong Kong in the West Kowloon Cultural District.

As the series of art and cultural activities are taking place in Hong Kong in the coming months, the HKTB, together with travel agents in mainland markets, have rolled out high-end travel packages with high-end hotel accommodation and admission tickets to art fairs or art and cultural attractions to inspire travellers to visit Hong Kong. The HKTB has also partnered with mainland airlines to organise an air ticket lucky draw riding on Art March to bring in visitors and spending to Hong Kong.

The HKTB is also inviting about 100 mainland and overseas media from more than 20 countries and regions including mainland, South Korea, Japan, the US, Canada, Australia, and Italy to experience Hong Kong’s art and cultural events, including media guests jointly invited by HKTB and the Information Services Department (ISD) to tell the Hong Kong art stories.

Furthermore, online and social media marketing has also been leveraged. For example, the HKTB is also producing engaging content such as information on art and cultural maps and photo hotspots on its official accounts on mainland social media platforms, including WeChat, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Weibo; it is also partnering with Xiaohongshu to invite KOLs to visit Hong Kong in person to create positive word-of-mouth.

It is also collaborating with popular UK paper-cutting artist Paperboyo to create social media posts with local characteristics with a selection of Hong Kong landmarks to attract visitors to Hong Kong.

In terms of marketing strategies, the HKTB uses the multi-channels medium and various ways of promotion, including launching art and cultural products to attract high-yield visitor segments and inviting media from mainland and overseas to strengthen global promotion.

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On the other hand, the HKTB has introduced new Harbourfront art and cultural experiences to promote to visitors and locals the world-class art and cultural activities along the coast of the iconic Victoria Harbour in a brand-new perspective, immersing themselves in the rich cultural ambience.

From 24 to 31 March, the ‘Arts in Hong Kong Harbour Tour’ offered visitors a unique experience of diverse art along Victoria Harbour. Visitors can take a ride on an authentic Chinese junk boat DukLing, accompanied by an onboard tour guide who will introduce you to Hong Kong’s wonderful art events and major art venues on both sides of the harbour.

While HKTB doesn’t have a specific KPI on behalf of these events, the spokesperson said "Arts in HK" is a promotional platform that aims to support different arts happenings in Hong Kong.

“The platform's success brings numerous benefits, including a positive effect on visitor arrivals, the economic benefits from mega events, enhancing the reputation of Hong Kong as an art and culture hub, generating a growing interest among visitors.”

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Dane Cheng, HKTB executive director, said, “World-class arts and cultural events are taking place in Hong Kong one after another. Through our year-round promotional platform ‘Arts in Hong Kong’, the Tourism Board actively promotes the series of art and cultural happenings in town riding on the momentum of ‘Art March’.”

Cheng added, “Together with our diverse promotions on different channels, we strive to showcase Hong Kong’s unique art appeal and reinforce the city’s role as the East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. Focusing on the trend that in-depth experiences are highly sought after by visitors, the HKTB will encourage the travel trade to jointly bring in art and cultural tourism products with unique characters, and step up promotional efforts across various platforms to bring in visitors to Hong Kong.”

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