United Airlines yesterday declared October Visit Hong Kong Month at United, featuring a full restoration of the pre-SARS Hong Kong flight schedule,…
United Airlines yesterday declared October Visit Hong Kong Month at United, featuring a full restoration of the pre-SARS Hong Kong flight schedule, and a series of new Hong Kong-related promotions and marketing campaigns that highlight the region as an attractive tourism and business travel destination.
`Visit Hong Kong Month` is United`s acknowledgement of the great relationship we`ve had with the people of Hong Kong for many years, said Graham Atkinson, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Alliances. By highlighting the region as an attractive tourism destination, providing special offers and reinstating our full, pre-SARS flight schedule from Hong Kong, we hope to help the Hong Kong and China economies as they recover from the SARS epidemic.
We are delighted about the `Visit Hong Kong Month` promotion, said Mrs Selina Chow, Chairman, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB). The promotion will help send a strong message to US travelers that the airline industry has full confidence in Hong Kong as a destination. It ties in perfectly with our new global advertising campaign `Hong Kong – Live it, Love it!` – endorsed by our long-standing official Tourism Ambassador, Jackie Chan who enjoys enormous popularity in the United States. It also ties in with HKTB`s series of mega events a number of which are built around traditional Chinese festivals, and have strong appeal to North American visitors.
As part of Hong Kong`s recent launch activities surrounding their new Hong Kong: Live It ! Love It! promotional campaign, the HKTB enlisted native son and movie star, Jackie Chan, to host the new Hong Kong promotional destination video. The HKTB will be running a segment of the promotional video on all United flights, worldwide, during the month of October. A thirty second promotional advertisement, which will follow the video, will highlight a co-branded HKTB/United Vacations Hong Kong holiday package.
United will continue to promote travel to Hong Kong through targeted marketing efforts directed at several segments of United customers who may be likely to visit Hong Kong in the near term.
At the same time, United will offer customers various incentives to travel to the region. United Mileage Plus members will be extended an offer of 5,000 bonus miles for travel to Hong Kong and other destinations in the Pacific. United will offer special e-fares on United.com and other travel web sites. In addition, United Vacations will offer a special Hong Kong vacation package. United customers traveling to Hong Kong may also qualify for United`s Fly Three, Fly Free and A Ticket to the World offers.
To raise awareness of Hong Kong as an attractive and viable destination for meeting and incentive planners, United is working with the HKTB`s Los Angeles office to develop a program to provide free Business Class Transportation to the top Meeting, Incentive, Conference and Exhibition planners from each of the 50 United States, for a trip to Hong Kong. Under this program, each planner will be invited to bring along a client who is looking for an international site for their next meeting or conference.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board will facilitate on-the-ground tours and accommodations for these visits.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
