HK’s campaign to bring M&I back

The Hong Kong Tourism Board has leveraged on this time to strengthen its partner relationships, educating and engaging them to keep the destination top-of-mind, says Puneet Kumar, Director, South Asia & Middle East, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB).

Hazel Jain

Is HK looking to promote itself as a M!CE destination for the Indian market?

To me, a great destination for incentive travel from India should offer great connectivity, top standard in hygiene, and be full of unique experiences and great cuisine options, and Hong Kong simply checks all boxes.

All through the lockdown, we remained connected with our corporate and travel trade stakeholders. We have leveraged on this window to sustain our partner relationships, educating and engaging them to keep the destination top-of-mind when outbound travel is on ‘pause’ mode. Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has launched 360 Hong Kong Moments, a series of Virtual Reality (VR) adventures.

What are some of the new incentive ideas HKTB has curated for M!CE recovery?

The team has been developing new themed itineraries that cater to the emerging trend of experiential, wellness and interest-based travel. Many new inspirational ideas and refreshed experiences are curated to enrich corporate Meetings & Incentive (M&I) groups’ itineraries, and to encourage them to rediscover Hong Kong with a new lens.

Do you have a tactical campaign for M&I?

The Meetings & Exhibitions Hong Kong (MEHK), the M!CE division of HKTB, is committed to welcome back Indian M&I groups to Hong Kong. Along with our Hong Kong industry partners, we will be curating exclusive offers and incentives under the MeetON@HongKong campaign to make it a rewarding experience for the visiting corporate delegates. The programme will further be enhanced with additional offers from hotels, free tickets from airlines, attractions and more.

What about trade partnerships?

We will be collaborating with our travel trade partners in India who are focused on the M!CE segment. MEHK will be working with their teams to create compelling offers for their corporate customers, supporting their outreach initiatives for lead generation and assisting them during their planning process.

Moreover, representatives from trade associations, universities and chambers of commerce were invited to become Hong Kong Convention Ambassadors under the new programme to promote Hong Kong as a destination for conventions.

How do you think M!CE travel will change now?

Most Indian corporates now prefer short-haul destinations. Some of them plan to operate a series of smaller groups vis-à-vis a single large group. HKTB will have a new scheme in response to this trend. Safety and hygiene standards and availability of direct flights rate much higher as the critical M&I destination selection criteria.

What do your interactions with Indian corporates reveal?

Majority of corporates are planning to roll-out their incentive schemes starting from the first half of 2021. Corporates plan to gradually resume incentive travel in Q3-Q4 of 2021. The virtual (or hybrid) event formats, and domestic destinations are only a short-term measure. They cannot substitute the aspiration associated with an international travel experience, especially for incentive travel.