From a city that welcomed just 50,000 visitors 50 years ago, Hong Kong is now the seventh most popular destination in the world, with more than 21 million arrivals each year. This year Hong Kong celebrates its ever-growing popularity with an array of new attractions and exciting events devised by the Hong Kong Tourism Board that is sure to be of interest to meeting and incentive travel planners.

Not only is its calendar of events full to the brim with activities, but new attractions, special offers and great deals are all part of the 2006 Discover Hong Kong initiative.

Key events
Events and activities include: Culture and Heritage Festival (April 28 – May 5), Hong Kong Shopping Festival (June 24 – August 31), Mid-Autumn Festival (October 1-12), and the Hong Kong WinterFest (from November 24).

The activities available at these events would make great add-ons to conferences or incentives. And to make it easier for event planners, the HKTB has launched a comprehensive website – www.DiscoverHongKong.com/mice – which allows event planners to easily select appropriate venues and request promotional offers from suppliers.

And, in response to the fast-growing trend of using the internet for venue search and booking, the HKTB has also created Virtual Market Place, an online Request For Proposal (RFP) tool to assist meeting planners to search for appropriate venues. RFP allows users to view specific venue details as well as conduct venue searches according to specific requirements, including location, guestroom and meeting room capacities. Virtual Market Place can be found at www.DiscoverHongKong.com/eng/meetings/ vmp/index.jhtml.

Rewards programme
The HKTB has also devised additional rewards for groups holding events in Hong Kong in 2006 to co-incide with the 2006 Discover Hong Kong Year. Hong Kong REWARDS are specifically devised events and offers that give corporate and incentive visitors experiences to make them feel particularly welcome.

For groups of between 30 and 149 overseas participants planners can choose from a Chinese craft demonstration (with the options being flour doll making, or name carving on chopsticks, or Chinese knotting, or Chinese rainbow calligraphy) or an airport welcome. An airport welcome is provided by Worldwide Flight Services and include at least one dedicated chaperone (subject to group size) who will meet the group at the air bridge. Signage will be tailor-made to your corporate event.

The chaperone will accompany the arriving group to immigration and guide the group through baggage collection and customs, all the way to the Greeters Arrival Hall. For groups with 1000 or more overseas participants the REWARDS are significantly higher. Visit www.DiscoverHongKong.com/mice to find out more.