Destination Profile - Hong Kong - Case Study Example

Destination Profile – Hong Kong Name: Course: Instructor: Institution: Institution’s Location: Date: Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Profile of Hong Kong 4 Development Trends and Patterns 5 Structure of DMO 6 Main Market Segments 8 Conclusion and Recommendation 10 Conclusion 10 Recommendation 11 References 12 Executive Summary Hong Kong remains one of the East Asian countries that attract a large number of global and regional tourists. This report presents a profile and a brief history of Hong Kong, as well as the structure of Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) and main market segment of tourists to the country. Hong Kong exists as an autonomous area (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China. Despite British colonization, Japanese occupation, and poor relationship with China, Hong Kong has enjoyed political stability over the years. It is governed through the “one country, two systems” political system. The Hong Kong Tourism Board represents the DMO responsible for promoting Hong Kong as a destination site. Majority of tourists to the country come mainly from mainland China, who spend about four nights to visit friends, sightsee, do shopping and visit tourist sites in the country. DESTINATION PROFILE – HONG KONG Introduction Hong Kong remains one of the East Asian countries that attract a large number of global and regional tourists. It is governed through two political systems: partially democratic and communist systems (Ash et al. 2013). After British colonists withdrew in 1997, the country enjoys significant autonomy over social and economic policies although China entirely controls its foreign policies. Its social and economic autonomy have resulted in a remarkable economic growth, aided by a rapidly growing service industry (McKercher 2002). Despite persistent power struggles with China, Hong Kong has enjoyed political stability over the years. These factors have seen its tourism industry grow significantly. Profile of Hong Kong Hong Kong exists as an autonomous area (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China. It is geographically situated in Eastern Asia, adjoining China and South China Sea. It serves as the major entry point to China because of its strategic location at the Greater Pearl River Delta together with other Chinese cities including Guangdong and Macau (Thomas White International 2013). It covers an area of approximately 1.1 thousand square kilometers, with 1.05 thousand square kilometers of land size and 50 square kilometers covered by water. As at June 2012, the country had a population of 7.15 million: 97 percent permanent residents and 3 percent mobile residents (Information Services Department 2013). In addition to a free market society, these demographic and geographic characteristics influence economy of the country. Hong Kong is governed through the “one country, two systems” political system (BBC 2013). Despite its autonomy and democratic or capitalistic market, the country’s government is appointed and controlled by China. The government is headed by a Chief Executive and an Executive Council, elected by an Election Committee and appointed by China (GovHK 2013). Therefore, Hong Kong is a partially democratic and communist country. It has a GDP (gross domestic product) of HK$1.89 trillion, attributable largely to the service sector (93 percent) (Govk 2013). Development Trends and Patterns Despite British colonization, Japanese occupation, and poor relationship with China, Hong Kong has enjoyed political stability over the years. After the Opium wars between Britain and China, Hong Kong and nearby territories became a colony of Britain up to 1997 (Tsang 2007). This led to growth of manufacturing sector, especially textile industry. In addition, the country’s population increased rapidly due to Chinese immigrants, who were fleeing from social, political, and economic upheavals in mainland China. Sino-Japanese war between 1930s and early 1940s saw Japan occupy Hong Kong. This resulted in mass exodus of people from the country to China. After the end of the Second World War, Japanese occupation ended and Britain re-established its political control over Hong Kong. By this time, the population had decreased from over 1.5 million in early 1940s to less than 1 million. From 1940s to 1997, the country experienced rapid economic growth and population growth (Thomas White International 2013). Influx of Chinese immigrants and free market economy saw the nation’s manufacturing sector expand from light to technology industries including clocks and watches. Since 1997 when Britain gave Hong Kong back to China, Hong Kong has risen to become a manufacturing, service (for example, tourism), and distribution hub in Asia (Ash et al. 2013). Structure of DMO The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) represents the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) responsible for promoting Hong Kong as a destination site. With its headquarters in the country, it has an extensive network of offices in majority of the countries in which it sources its customers. The board’s structure comprises of members situated at the headquarters, global offices, and other support departments (see figure 1). HKTB plays various roles: raising public awareness on importance of tourism; marketing the country has a tourism destination; advising government on tourism-related projects for funding; and organizing and overseeing products and services offered to tourists (Hong Kong Tourism Board 2013; McKercher et al., 2005) . The board relies on various marketing channels to achieve its objectives. It uses promotional campaigns, electronic marketing (website, E-newsletter, E-guidebook, E-travel brochures, and so on), partnerships, and trade fairs, as well as local and global dailies (Okumus et al. 2007). It also uses the brand name, ‘Hong Kong. Asia’s World City,’ to attract local and global tourists. The board works with a yearly budget of approximately over HK$550 million. Based on the Butler’s Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC) theory (see figure 2), Hong Kong seems to be in the stage of development (Rodríguez et al. 2008). It is currently expanding its infrastructure to meet needs of the large number of tourists from mainland China. Currently, HKTB is overseeing construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, which is expected to be completed in 2016 (Hong Kong Tourism Board 2013). This bridge will provide a mega sea link, connecting Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai. Figure 1. HKTB structure (Hong Kong Tourism Board 2013) Figure 2. Butler’ TALC model (adopted from http://www.destinationrecovery.com/destinationlifecycle.html) Main Market Segments Tourists to Hong Kong come from different countries for different purposes. Majority of the tourists come from china and regional countries, with Europe and the United States contributing a significant proportion of tourists to the country (see table 1). Majority of these tourists come for business purposes, while a significant number of them come to Hong Kong for sightseeing (see figure 3). Table 1. Number of tourists to Hong Kong from different countries Source: Pacific Asia Travel Association 2013 Figure 3. A pie chart showing percentages of purposes of tourists to Hong Kong (Transport Department 2012, 34) According to Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (2013), overnight tourists spend approximately four nights in Hong Kong. These tourists include those touring for business purposes and those coming for vacation. Tourists coming for vacation (sightseeing, leisure, visits, and so on) represents the largest proportion of the overnight visitors (see table 2). These statistics indicate mainland China as the major market segment of tourists to Hong Kong. Most of these Chinese tourists spend about 3.5 nights to visit their relatives or friends, to shop or visit tourist attraction sites, and to sightsee the country. Table 2. Number of overnight tourists by purpose Source: Commerce and Economic Development Bureau 2013, 3 Conclusion and Recommendation Conclusion Stable political climate and a free market economy have resulted in remarkable growth of Hong Kong’s tourism industry. Hong Kong operates as an autonomous area of China (a communist country) although it still maintains a democratic economy established by Britain up to 1997. HKTB promotes the country as a great and an attractive tourist destination. Tourists to the country come mainly from mainland China, with other countries including neighbors, U.S., and European nations contributing a significant number of visitors. Most of these tourists spend about four nights, visiting their friends, sightseeing, doing shopping and visiting tourist sites in the country. Recommendation HKTB focuses its marketing campaigns on regional markets, such as China, Japan, and Singapore. The board needs to promote its tourist attractions to other parts of the globe that seem to slightly contribute to earnings from tourism. For example, it needs to market the country and its attraction sites to Americans and Europeans, who contribute considerable number of visitors to the country. References Ash, R., Ferdinand, P., Hook, B., & Porter, R., 2013. Hong Kong in transition: one country, two systems. London: Routledge. BBC, 2013. Hong Kong profile. [Online] (updated 28 Jul. 2013) Available at: [Accessed 2 Aug. 2013]. Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, 2013. Hong Kong Tourism Board work plan for 2013-2014. [Online] (updated 6 Jun. 2013) Available at: [Accessed 2 Aug. 2013] GovHK, 2013. Government structure. [Online] (updated Jul. 2013) Available at: [Accessed 2 Aug. 2013]. Hong Kong Tourism Board, 2013. Annual report 2011/2012. [Online] (updated 2013) Available at: [Accessed 2 Aug. 2013]. Information Services Department, 2013. Hong Kong - the facts. [Online] (updated Jul. 2013) Available at: [Accessed 2 Aug. 2013]. McKercher, B., 2002. Towards a classification of cultural tourists. International Journal of Tourism Research, 4 (1): pp.28-30. McKercher, B., Ho, P., Cros, H., 2005. Relationship between tourism and cultural heritage management: evidence from Hong Kong. Tourism Management, 26 (4): pp.539-548. Okumus, B., Okumus, F., & McKercher, B., 2007. Incorporating local and international cuisines in the marketing of tourism destinations: the cases of Hong Kong and Turkey. Tourism Management, 28 (1): pp.253-261. Pacific Asia Travel Association, 2013. Overnight visitors to Hong Kong up 6.5% in 2012. [Online] (updated 28 Jan. 2013) Available at: [Accessed 2 Aug. 2013]. Rodríguez, J., Parra-López, E., & Yanes-Estévez, Y., 2008. The sustainability of island destinations: tourism area life cycle and teleological perspectives. The case of Tenerife. Tourism Management, 29 (1): pp.53-65. Thomas White International, 2013. Hong Kong: a symphony of lights. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 2 Aug. 2013]. Transport Department, 2012. Travel characteristics survey 2002 – final report. [Online] (updated 10 May 2012) Available at: [Accessed 2 Aug. 2013]. Tsang, S., 2007. A modern history of Hong Kong. New York, NY: I.B. Tauris. Read More