HKTB Focusing on Young Demographics of India

THE RECENT Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Trade Mission 2017 that took place in Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi aimed at building relationships with the Indian travel trade, supported by the growing interest in travel to Hong Kong among Indian leisure travellers and MICE groups. 31 Hong Kong tour operators joined the trade mission 2017 to promote key attractions and highlights in Hong Kong to Indian travellers.

BW Hotelier spoke to Peter Hoslin, Regional Director, Europe and New Markets Hong Kong Tourism Board, who is responsible for promoting Hong Kong in the established markets of Europe and the developing markets of the India Middle East, Russia and Vietnam.

“India and Hong Kong serves a strong and mature relationship. The outbound travellers from India are getting way stronger and we are constantly talking about projects here in India. We are looking at the better ways to talk to our target audiences,” said Hoslin.

Hoslin believes that to facilitate business making between the two organisations from the India and the Hong Kong trade, the best way is to do it face to face and spend time in the market.

According to Hoslin, HKTB is perfectly positioned for the young travellers from India. “We are very much focused on the young demographics i.e, 22 to 45 age group of people. We are targeting that group because Hong Kong is a mix of very cosmopolitan, very modern, yet very distinct Chinese, traditional and cultural market,” he added.

Last year (2016-17) Hong Kong witnessed 4,80,000 visitors from India as per as the data shared by Hoslin. “Focusing much on Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru we have partnered with different travel agencies across the cities,” says Hoslin.

Apart from promoting the business tourism, HKTB is presently aiming to highlight the green element which covers 60 per cent of Hong Kong.