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INTERVIEW HONG KONG


STAYING OVER


DAWN PAGE UK DIRECTOR HONG KONG TOURIST BOARD


How long have you been in your present role and what did you do previously? I joined the Hong Kong Tourism Board in early December 2010 – and was promptly whisked off to the country for a 10-day orientation trip. My immediate previous role was as director of tourism for Flanders, a region in northern Belgium. I’ve had a long career in the long haul travel sector, with roles at Tourism Australia, for three years, and sales and marketing manager for Eva Airways, for seven years. Before that I was with China Airlines, TWA and Delta.


the trade’. What does that mean from your perspective? For us it is really making sure that we get out there and see the key people. HKTB has some very good trade


partners; we work very closely with the major tour operators. We have a trade manager, Sandra, who goes out and about to do our travel trade training. My job is to make sure that we are very much ‘out there’, and that Hong Kong is top of mind, and to show trade operators that we very much want to work with them, whether on co-op advertising, trade incentives, or getting involved in PATA.


to Hong Kong for six years – it took me a good 12 hours to get my bearings, things had changed so much.


What are the main challenges in selling Hong Kong right now? Obviously the general challenges out there are shared by Hong Kong. The recession makes it tough for any destination. We’ve had a VAT increase, and the economic figures tell us the UK economy has shrunk worse than expected. We were quite fortunate in that in 2010 we came out ahead of the game in the UK, with a 0.35% growth, which


“I think perhaps that sometimes there is a mentality of ‘I know Hong Kong, so I don’t need to go on a fam trip’, because agents think they have been there and done that. In fact, there is always something different to see”


How would you describe your main day-to-day responsibilities? No two days are the same! I am responsible for developing the marketing strategy for the UK and northern Europe. That’s everything from marketing, public relations, trade relationships – which are very important to us – as well as the meetings and incentives market. One day I can be struggling with budgets, and not come out of my office, and the next I might be talking to a media agency about an exciting upcoming campaign.


New tourism directors invariably say they want to ‘build partnerships with


26 March 2011 • www.sellinglonghaul.com


We also run our own events, like Contact and Contract this month (7th), which will see 42 Hong Kong hoteliers in the UK to meet with product managers.


How well do you feel the trade knows the real Hong Kong? On one level Hong Kong is well known and well loved, but it is vital to get the message across that it never gets stale and is always changing. I think sometimes that there is a mentality of ‘I know Hong Kong, so I don’t need to go on a fam trip,’ because agents think they have been there and done that. In fact, there is always something different to see. Before taking this job I hadn’t been


was fantastic bearing in mind the circumstances. On the plus side, the HK dollar is quite weak against the pound, which makes the destination great value.


What are tour operators telling you about 2011? A lot of them are very positive. I’ve seen some figures from key operators and bookings are up. I was encouraged that operators reported a very good January, but there is still a feeling out there of ‘let’s wait and see’ and uncertainty about what is to come.


Is HK benefiting from the fact that the currencies in many other long haul


destinations are relatively stronger right now, making them less attractive than previously? That’s hard to say because around 92 per cent of our visitors are en-route to somewhere else, usually Australia or New Zealand, or on ‘round the world’ tickets. If Australia’s numbers fall, that also affects us. I don’t think the relative spending power of currencies really comes into it when people consider Hong Kong.


Is that tag as a ‘stopover destination’ a bit of an irritation for you? No, not at all. Stopovers are crucial for us. Our average stopover stay is three nights. People spend a lot of money stopping over. And many who do stay over come back – 37 per cent of our visitors are repeat visitors who return to experience Hong Kong as a standalone destination. We are focused on twinning with regional partners like China and Macau, so I would say the fact that we are a stopover destination is a bonus rather than an irritation.


Are travel agents still important to you? Definitely. People spending a lot of money to travel a long way want to speak to tour operators and travel agents. They want to know they are putting their money in the right place.


What’s your idea of the perfect holiday? Well, I love Hong Kong, but when I go on holiday I usually need a beach! I’m a sun lover and I like nothing better than being on a great beach surrounded by a huge pile of books.


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