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36 Hours in
Hong Kong
New York Times, April 8, 2007 -
HONG KONG's newest tourist
attraction, a 25-minute cable-car ride over the rugged green hills
of Lantau Island, says a lot about this former British colony.
Ngong Ping 360 (www.np360.com.hk)
demonstrates Hong Kong's fascination with travel and technology; the
skyrail's hilltop terminus, an ersatz Chinese village, plays to
local passions for eating,
shopping and taking pictures. From
there, it is a short walk to the
Po Lin monastery's 112-foot-tall
bronze statue of Buddha seated on a lotus throne, an expression of
Hong Kong's fundamental Chineseness. This crazy mix of commerce and
culture — plus sublime modern
architecture, great food, nonstop
nightlife and amazing views — makes Hong Kong, 10 years after its
transition from British to Chinese rule, still one of the world's
biggest tourist draws. (Click
for full coverage.)
4m Flyers Through HK Airport
Shanghai Daily May 14, 2007 - Hong Kong International
Airport, Asia's third-busiest airfield, handled four million passengers last
month, a six percent increase from April 2006, the government-owned operator
said yesterday.The airport set a record with more than 890 flight movements on
April 5, as people traveled for the Easter holidays and the Tomb Sweeping Day,
Airport Authority Hong Kong said.The airport handled 299,000 tons of cargo in
April, up 1.4 percent from April 2006. Aircraft landings and take-offs increased
3.9 percent to 24,460 movements, Bloomberg News said.
Visitors
to HK Expected to Grow 4.6% in 2007
Xinhua News, Feb.
8, 2007 - The board's Chairwoman Selina
Chow said the projection aligns with the World Tourism
Organization's forecast that global tourism will grow by about 4
percent in 2007. "As Hong Kong has already
achieved a huge visitor base, we should not focus solely on the
quantity, that is, arrival figures, but also the quality or yield of
our investment," Chow said. To maximize
the return, the board will adopt a three-pronged approach to promote
Hong Kong.
It will
leverage the opportunities created by the Chinese mainland to
attract more overseas arrivals; continue to concentrate on meeting,
convention and exhibition business, and family visitors; and
highlight Hong Kong's unique living culture.
Traveler Arrivals Jump in Hong Kong
Shanghai Daily May 30, 2006 - Hong
Kong's tourist arrivals rose 9.5 percent in April from a year
earlier to 2.1 million, helped by an increase in visitors from
China, the Hong Kong Tourism Board said. The number of people from
the Chinese mainland visiting the city climbed 12.4 percent to 1.1
million, the association said on Saturday. Tourists from the
Philippines and Indonesia showed the strongest growth in numbers,
surging 37 percent and 18 percent respectively. The tourism board
forecasts a record 27 million visitors this year, with the number
boosted by new attractions such as Hong Kong Disneyland.
The average cost of a
hotel room in Hong Kong increased 16 percent from a year earlier
to HK$1,264 (US$163) a night.
Hong Kong Still Top
Shopping Center in Asia
Chinanews.cn Aug.
27, 2005 -
A recent survey conducted by Mastercard showed that Hong
Kong kept its leading position in Asia to be the best shopping place due
to its geographical locations and various top-branded products from
Europe and the United States. By 2011, tourism revenue from shopping in
Hong Kong is expected to reach 11 billion US dollars from the 6 billion
US dollars in 2006. The survey revealed that Hong Kong was a favorite
destination for mainland visitors. The second on the list is Bangkok.
Shopping revenue in the city will be 2 billion US dollars in 2006 and
will reach 3.5 billion US dollars six years later. Visitors like the
city for the “unique experience in Thailand”. However, transportation
remains an obstacle for visitors to the city. Seoul ranks third ahead of
Singapore. The Korean capital attracts visitors for its ethnic feature
and the Singapore boasts for its top-class retailers.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Embraced Its First Guests
Chinanews.cn June 13, 2005 - According to Hong Kong's Oriental Daily,
after six years of preparation and construction, the Hong Kong Disneyland has
started the 100-day countdown to its opening. Yesterday the Hong Kong Disneyland
spent 600,000 HKD and prepared a "Thanksgiving Day" to entertain for free 2,000
guests, which consisted of Disneyland's dream team of engineers and their family
members. All the guests enjoyed themselves in the park for seven hours and were
reluctant to leave until dusk. (click
for full coverage)
Green light for Macau, Hong
Kong bridge
CNN.com Mar. 8, 2005 - Promoters of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge
have proposed an enormous structure stretching 29 km (18 miles). The newspaper
said it would directly connect Hong Kong and Macau to booming ports in southern
China's Pearl River Delta region. Private investment would be allowed to have a
"primary role" in funding the 31.5 billion yuan ($3.8 billion) project. (full
coverage)
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