Bloggers help promote HK's good qualities: Gov

The government revealed on Wednesday that it invited some 2,000 bloggers, travel industry professionals, and celebrities from the mainland, South East Asia and Europe to visit Hong Kong last year, with the aim of telling the "good stories of Hong Kong". At the Legislative Council, finance sector lawmaker Ronick Chan questioned how the government could improve the experience of mainland tourists who visit the city and whether the administration would engage with more with tourists on social media. In response, Acting Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Raistlin Lau, said the government was aware that mainland tourists want to do more than just sightseeing and were looking for unique and authentic experiences. He mentioned that the Tourism Board invited people from all over the world to visit the city last year, in particular mainland bloggers with a large follower base on major social media platforms, including Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Weibo. "[They would] experience the diverse tourism features and share their experience on social media to tell the good story of Hong Kong," he said. He added that the Tourism Board had accumulated more than 11 million followers on various social media platforms so far. "In the past year, promotional content on these platforms had a reach exceeding two billion [hits]. We will continue to promote Hong Kong on various media channels," he said.