A COLOURFUL campaign highlighting a reinvigorated Hong Kong and the city’s unique character will be appearing on the world’s billboards, public transport and digital screens.
The “Only in Hong Kong” theme will feature a blend of Chinese text with English based on the traditional business chop set on a variety of city sights, from images of Kai Tak Stadium and the Star Ferry to the Coastal Geopark, the iconic skyscrapers on either side of Victoria Harbour, and even street trams.
The imagery was revealed this week to a trade audience of nearly 2,000 in-person and online delegates at the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Annual Overview 2026.
Other initiatives including the extending the city’s festivals to attract more year-round visitors, working with hotels and travel operators to offer customised experience to high-net-worth travellers and establishing Hong Kong event venues as halal-friendly for Muslim delegates are also being rolled out.
Senior HKTB officials also vowed that 2026 will be a “landmark year” for business events in Hong Kong after delegate arrivals reached 2.5 million in 2025 – a 7 per cent increase from the previous year.
“Looking ahead, 2026 will be a landmark year for Hong Kong’s MICE landscape, with several remarkable events set to solidify our global standing,” Marilyn Tham, HKTB’s general manager for Mega Events, MICE and Cruise, told the audience.
The convention segment achieved a 31 per cent year-on-year increase “driven by a robust line-up of medical and technology conferences, contributing 80 per cent of overnight arrivals”.
HKTB said attendance at the annual overview reached record numbers. The day of presentations, panel forums and reports on overseas markets on March 18 was held at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Key international conferences beyond industry and science-related events that are coming to Hong Kong later in the year include the APEC Finance Ministers Meetings, the Interpol General Assembly, representing police forces from 196 member countries, and the Association of National Olympic Committee’s General Assembly, rerpesenting all 206 national Olympic Committees.
“All these events demonstrate the trust and recognition that Hong Kong commands on the global stage,” said Tham.
The most visible sign of Hong Kong’s recovery as a visitor destination, however, is set to come through the international publicity effort.
“We will launch a new advertising campaign globally,” HKTB executive director Anthony Lau told the overview. “We will reinforce the claim of Hong Kong as the events capital of Asia, and we will elevate neighbourhood experiences. To bring Hong Kong to the next level, we have searched for what makes our city different and different from every other destination.”
Rosanna Law, the Hong Kong SAR Government’s Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, said the plans revealed at the HKTB overview would align with the Chinese government’s 15th Five Year Plan. She said the months of March and April would see the city’s landmark events on the world stage. These include the 50th anniversary of the Hong Kong Sevens, ArtBasel, Art March, the recent Hong Kong International Horse Show, the city’s marathon, and the LIV Gold Series.
Backgrounder… HKTB overview enters mega-event era
Law said mega events were the “engine driving Hong Kong tourism forward in 2026… We are earnestly solidifying our status as a year round world class capital of mega events”. She said the success of HKTB’s wine and dine festival “showed the world Hong Kong is back – and back big time”.
In her address, Law had earlier described the appointment of Peter Lam as HKTB chairman and the transfer of civil servant Anthony Lau to the post of executive director as “the return of the heavyweights.”
