Kaohsiung promotes tourism to Hong Kong visitors

Kaohsiung, Sept. 17 (CNA) The Kaohsiung City Tourism Bureau on Tuesday said it has been working to actively promote the city to tourists from Hong Kong, the country's second largest source of international visitors.

Based on statistics as of the end of July, this year Japan has been the biggest source of inbound visitors to Taiwan, with 683,000 arrivals, while Hong Kong was close behind with 676,000, the bureau said in a press release.

From January to June this year, accommodation providers in Kaohsiung received about 134,000 visitors from Hong Kong and Macau, a 59 percent increase over the same period last year, it said, indicating that the special administrative regions are one of the city's largest sources of international tourists.

As parts its of efforts to attract tourists from Hong Kong, the bureau this year partnered with Lihpao Resort Fullon Hotel and EVA Airways to promote tours of Kaohsiung for members of the Hong Kong Tourism Association and several media representatives, Tourism Bureau Director Kao Min-lin (高閔琳) said.

Recently, the bureau also invited top executives from China Airlines' Hong Kong office and several travel agencies to visit some of Kaohsiung's popular scenic hotspots, including the Pier-2 Art Center and the Great Harbor Bridge in Yancheng District, she said.

In addition, Kao said the bureau collaborated with the Tourism Administration's overseas office in Hong Kong and Towa Tours Ltd. (HK) to welcome hundreds of employees from the insurance firm Chubb Life on a four-day sightseeing trip to Kaohsiung from Sept. 13-16.

The Kaohsiung bureau will continue to work with various sectors including aviation, travel, hotel and other tourism industries to promote the southern Taiwanese city as a popular international tourist destination, it added.