Hong Kong's image-branding

Hong Kong's image-branding

By Grace Emilia

HONG KONG (JP): "Buy this Hong Kong flag pin Madam, only
HK$4!" offered a street hawker on bustling Nathan Road.

I stopped walking when the hawker continued in a friendly
tone, "the red background color represents mainland China and the
flowers on it represent Hong Kong. Hong Kong is part of China.
Buy this new China."

I bought the pin. Not for the pin itself, but because of the
hawker's friendliness and explanation.

Before visiting Hong Kong, friends had warned me of the
rudeness of Hong Kong's people. An impression heightened by Hong
Kong action movies keen on depicting sadistic mafia scenes, a
part of my brain had registered this Hong Kong stereotype.

It, therefore, came as quite a surprise to see some people who
were actually very friendly. It seems Hong Kong Tourist
Association's "Be a Good Host" campaign in the past two years has
borne results.

"This unfriendly image stems from the fact that Hong Kong is
small and competition is high so the people are quite tense,"
says Michael Currie, travel editor of South China Morning Post.
Meanwhile Ada Tang from Kowloon-based TVB Publication reasons
that the trait is caused by lack of education. This trait, he
explained, was more predominant in those born in mainland China
who moved to Hong Kong during the 40s.

Given the not so favorable cultural image, plus its limited
natural resources, compared to Indonesia, it is amazing that this
city with a population of 6.4 million received over 13 million
visitors in 2000 generating some HK$76.4 billion (US$ 9.7
billion) or about 5 percent of Hong Kong's GDP.

"Tourism spending makes tourism one of the biggest
contributors to the Hong Kong economy." says Selina Chow, the
chairman of Hong Kong Tourism Board.

The World Tourism Organization is even projecting that this
special administrative region (SAR) will receive 22.5 million
arrivals a year by 2010 and 56 million by 2020. Within Asia, only
mainland China receives more visitors each year, making Hong Kong
Asia's single most popular destination.

How is this possible?

Continuous worldwide promotion and branding of Hong Kong as
the "City of Life" since 1998 is one answer, combined with strong
support from the government to make Hong Kong SAR a major tourism
destination.

This branding effort has helped Hong Kong to secure two PATA
(Pacific Asia Travel Association) Gold Awards for best
International Marketing Program (over US$5 million) and best web
site (www.DiscoverHongKong.com) in the latest PATA Conference in
Kuala Lumpur ended on April 12.

In 1995, the HK Tourism Board's visitor and tourism study
recommended that HK should place more emphasis on educational,
heritage, culture and participatory travel experience. The latest
international market research studies also showed that 57 percent
of respondents in the U.S. cited "experiencing cultures new and
interesting to you" as a key factor in deciding on a destination.
Forty percent of respondents in the United Kingdom expressed a
desire for different kinds of experiences to "refresh the
spirit"; whilst nearly 30 percent of Japanese respondents
endorsed Chinese festive arts and cultural activities.

Based on this finding, Hong Kong Tourism Board, formerly the
Hong Kong Tourist Association, launched a special two-year
community-wide project entitled "City of Life: Hong Kong is it!"

This US$30.8 million project started on April 1 this year when
the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR Tung Chee-hwa launched it
with a spectacular lighting and pyrotechnic display on Hong
Kong's harbor front.

"Our aim is to build and expand Hong Kong's established
strengths in shopping, dining, events and entertainment by adding
depth to the tourist experience with activity-based involvement.
At the same time, we want to add breadth to the Hong Kong product
geographically, by expanding the profile of attraction and
activities beyond well-known areas" adds Clara Chong, newly
appointed executive director of Hong Kong Tourism Board.

"Hong Kong's uniqueness is contained in one magic word:
Contrast!" Chong continues. We intend to tell the world that Hong
Kong as a destination is "life" in all its glorious shapes and
forms, a living fusion of East and West, old and new, traditional
and modern."

A good promotion indeed. Can Indonesia learn from this?