How digital technology can make 2022 the year tourism returns to Hong Kong
- With borders still closed, Hong Kong can turn to digital marketing to export its unique culture to the world, following in the footsteps of South Korea’s successful K-wave
In the midst of a pandemic, tourism seems like a remote concept. Yet as 2022 marks the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover, it is a year in which the city can share its cultural assets with the world and reignite the global passion for tourism – particularly cultural tourism – by allowing people to experience Hong Kong from afar using digital technology.
According to the UN World Tourism Organisation, in cultural tourism a visitor seeks “to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions or products in a tourism destination”. These can encompass a wide range of fields from arts and architecture and culinary heritage, to value systems, beliefs and traditions.
Hong Kong’s metropolitan lifestyle and East-meets-West social fabric remains globally unique. Country parks, Chinese temples, seafood markets, dense city life and world-class entertainment infrastructure are all within an hour’s reach from one another. The West Kowloon Cultural District, a vibrant hub featuring local and international musical and artistic talent, has raised the city’s cultural profile further.
The outlook is promising, but we must also look beyond infrastructure and events. In the digital age, we need to be savvy in promoting cultural content to make our strengths known to the world.
Despite being a small city of only seven million people, Hong Kong has been an exporter of Cantonese culture for decades, from kung fu films to pop music to soap operas. In terms of business and commerce, Hong Kong is a world-class hub of innovation and communication, housing many global firms.
The aim of cultural tourism, then, is to make such local content part of the global mainstream, creating new trends and influential works that transcend borders.
It is about discovering local talent that reflects Hong Kong’s culture and launching that talent abroad through partnerships with world-leading production houses and entertainment platforms. Such talent development helps to create a self-sustaining industry that young people can see their future in.
The US has long led the global entertainment industry, but today South Korea – a nation whose language is not spoken globally – is quickly catching up, while the mainland has also made a name for itself with world-class productions that make use of the latest innovations and international expertise.
Cultural tourism can also take place in virtual spaces. Amid pandemic-driven restrictions on travel and the ongoing digital transformation of our daily lives, culture is now frequently consumed in a hybrid form or even purely online. Today, many consumer brands are looking into the metaverse, which might play a role in virtual tourism one day.
We could attend an online pizza-making lesson with an Italian celebrity chef and take a digitally-guided tour of a vineyard in the south of France in the morning; and go out with friends in Lan Kwai Fong to enjoy that same French wine in person in the evening.
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Thanks to Hong Kong’s strong talent pool, sophisticated technological infrastructure, and strategic geographic location, the city can cultivate more of these hybrid experiences and set itself apart as a global leader of cultural tourism.
Hong Kong can help preserve and promote these cultural treasures by benchmarking the world’s best practices. This will help create economic opportunities that meet conservation and sustainability goals and bring about social benefits.
A United Nations report released last year projected a rebound of the travel sector in 2023. The tourism industry at large should therefore use this time of low activity to prepare for future demand, starting with investment in our talent – the energy that fuels innovation and creates new possibilities for the sector.
Such experiences can help to heal many coronavirus-battered souls, provided we know how to promote and make the most of our cultural assets.
Sonia Cheng is a member of the Hong Kong Tourism Board and CEO of the Rosewood Hotel Group