JEDDAH, 19 March — Hong Kong has launched a Kingdomwide campaign in cooperation with Kanoo Holidays to attract tourists from this part of the world. “Although the percentage of tourists from the Kingdom and elsewhere in the Middle East is small, we’re hopeful that both business and leisure travelers would now prefer to visit the Far Eastern island as their visits to the West, especially the US, have considerably dropped since Sept. 11,” Sanjay Chudasama, London-based marketing officer of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, told Arab News at a presentation he gave at Le Jeddah Meridien yesterday. He said in the recent times there had been a twofold increase of visitors from the Middle East to Hong Kong that accounts for 12.7 million tourists from the world over annually. Since its becoming part of China, Hong Kong has retained its visa policy that allows Saudis and most of the Middle Eastern countries to travel to the island without a visa in advance. “Only four Middle East countries — Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine need to apply for their visas in advance,” he said, adding that expatriates of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka could also get their visas on arrival.”
The presentation on “Hong Kong city of life” showed that the island is a small place that lives large, and as a living fusion of East and West it presents visitors with an ever-changing kaleidoscope of color and culture. Combining around 150 years of colonial influence and 5,000 years of Chinese tradition, the island has its own special attractions including the “Cathay Pacific international Chinese new year parade,” “the Hong Kong flower extravaganza” and “the mega Hong Kong” this year, and the “City of Life” street carnival in 2003.
Kanoo Holidays Western Province Manager Mujib Khan gave an overview of tourist packages offered by Kanoo to Hong Kong and various other destinations. “Hong Kong is a land of contrasts and one of Asia’s most vibrant destinations. It’s a combination of highly sophisticated modern living with colorful shops, markets and the world’s famous harbor. It has everything one could wish for in a vacation — luxurious accommodation, fine dining, a rich cultural heritage, bargain shopping, cruising and secluded beaches,” he said, adding that tourist packages were also available for Hong Kong combined with other tourist places including Singapore.
