The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, officiated at the 'Hello Hong Kong' Campaign Launch Ceremony on February 2, to unveil a series of promotional activities and highlight the many new attractions, developments and opportunities for visitors coming to Hong Kong.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Lee said that as Hong Kong is now in a new phase of advancing from stability to prosperity and is seamlessly connected to the Mainland and the rest of the world, it is the perfect time for tourists, investors, entrepreneurs and innovators to come and experience the vibrancy of the city and seize opportunities to flourish.

"Hello Hong Kong" is a large-scale global promotional campaign focusing on four major areas. They include:

(i) "Hello Hong Kong" as the over-arching theme to attract visitors to the city: distributing 500,000 free air tickets and welcoming people from around the world to come and experience the hospitality of Hong Kong in person. Over the past few years, a number of major new attractions have opened, including the Hong Kong Palace Museum and M+ museum at the West Kowloon Cultural District, providing visitors with more exciting experiences. There are also various special offers, cash vouchers and other incentives to enrich their itinerary in Hong Kong.

(ii) Sponsored visits for prominent guests: inviting business leaders, political dignitaries, media representatives and influential figures to come and experience the real Hong Kong, understand the latest developments, unlimited opportunities and new tourist attractions on offer in Asia’s world city and share good stories of Hong Kong with their friends and contacts at home.

(iii) Going out to tell good Hong Kong stories: the Government will lead and organise different delegations to the Mainland and overseas countries to introduce the unparalleled strengths of the city under "One Country, Two Systems", to tell the good stories of Hong Kong, and to promote business, tourism and cultural exchanges.

(iv) Launching more MICE and mega events: major events on finance, economy, innovation and technology, sports, arts and culture as well as wine and dine events, together with large-scale international conventions and exhibitions, are coming back one after another, reviving the city’s MICE tourism sector. In the coming two months, a variety of large-scale events will take place, including the Hong Kong Marathon, Hong Kong Sevens, Trailwalker, Art Basel Hong Kong, Museum Summit, Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong International Jewllery Show, WOW Summit Hong Kong and Vis East Moot.

The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, attended the "Hello Hong Kong" Campaign Launch Ceremony today (February 2). Photo shows (from left) the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong; the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Dr Peter Lam; the President of the Legislative Council, Mr Andrew Leung; the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; Mr Lee; the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Dr Pang Yiu-kai; the Chairman of the Airport Authority Hong Kong, Mr Jack So; the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung; and the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, officiating at the ceremony.

Mr Lee added that Hong Kong is ready to welcome tourists from the Mainland and overseas to explore the city’s diversity and opportunities.

Speaking at a press conference immediately after the Launch Ceremony, the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, said the "Hello Hong Kong" campaign would tell people around the world that Hong Kong is "back" again. The Government and the Hong Kong Inc. partner organisations will go all out to showcase and promote the city’s new bright economic prospects, new cultural vision as well as new tourism and mega event experiences. The newly-established Task Force on Promoting and Branding Hong Kong will seize this timely opportunity to devise narratives to proactively demonstrate Hong Kong’s new strengths.

Apart from Mr Lee and Mr Chan, other officiating guests at the Launch Ceremony included the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; the President of the Legislative Council, Mr Andrew Leung; the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung; the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui; the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau; the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), Dr YK Pang; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Dr Peter Lam; and, the Chairman of the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), Mr Jack So.

Mr Kevin Yeung, Mr Christopher Hui, Mr Algernon Yau and Professor Sun Dong together with the Director of Information Services, Mr Fletch Chan, the Executive Director of the HKTB, Mr Dane Cheng, and the Chief Executive Officer of the AAHK, Mr Fred Lam, also attended the press conference to brief media on relevant publicity strategies and promotional events.