2008 Olympics a Golden Opportunity for Hong Kong Retail Industry
The Hon James Tien, Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, told the Hong Kong retail industry on Friday that he envisaged great opportunities arising from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but also emphasised the challenges that lie ahead. Mr Tien urged the industry – an inextricable segment of tourism – to seize every opportunity the Olympics Games present and ensure that the light generated by the Olympic flame will continue to illuminate Hong Kong long after the Games.

Speaking at the Retail Management Association Annual General Meeting, Mr Tien said the HKTB has already drawn up strategies to leverage the Games for promoting Hong Kong. “Tourists nowadays rarely settle for a single destination holiday. Surveys by the HKTB show that almost two-thirds of long-haul visitors to Hong Kong last year went on to visit Mainland China,” he remarked. “Our short-term objective is to ensure that a good proportion of those who travel to Beijing for the Olympics also visit Hong Kong, while in the longer term, we aim to turn Hong Kong into a must-visit stop for all tour itineraries to China.”