Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO), the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) jointly held an overseas tourism promotional event for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, namely “Greater Bay Area – Connecting Great Experiences”, in Indonesia yesterday (26 September). The event introduced new fun attractions and facilitated tourism operators’ launch of innovative multi-destination products, in a collaborative effort to brand the Greater Bay Area as one great destination and expand international visitor markets.
“Greater Bay Area – Connecting Great Experiences” destination branding in international markets
MGTO, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province and HKTB co-hosted the promotional event of “Greater Bay Area – Connecting Great Experiences” in Jakarta, Indonesia on 26 September, following their collaboration to organize the first overseas tourism promotion of the same kind after the pandemic in Bangkok, Thailand last year (2023). The event aimed to strengthen regional tourism cooperation and showcase the unique tourism resources and latest development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, to attract more Indonesian visitors to the Greater Bay Area and tap the potential of international visitor markets together. The event engaged about 150 participants including members of the travel trade, media and KOLs in Indonesia.
Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao enhance regional destination appeal by synergy of strengths
Deputy Director of MGTO, Cheng Wai Tong, remarked that the World Heritage “The Historic Centre of Macao” and the status as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy are Macao’s most iconic calling cards in tourism. He hopes that this promotional event in Indonesia will further manifest Macao’s unique cultural symphony of the East and West and breadth of “tourism +”, as well as the destination’s appeal as a world centre of tourism and leisure. He welcomes Indonesian and Southeast Asian travelers to tap into the ease of multi-destination travel, which can take them to experience the vitality, charm and unique attractions of different cities across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area within one journey.
Deputy Executive Director of Hong Kong Tourism Board, Becky Ip, remarked that Southeast Asia markets, particularly Indonesia as one of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s largest economies, present significant tourism potential. As such, HKTB is partnering with tourism departments in Guangdong Province and Macao to promote the Greater Bay Area tourism brand in Indonesia. HKTB is collaborating with trade partners in the market to introduce new tourism products. At the same time, HKTB continues to promote Hong Kong’s increasingly Muslim-friendly facilities and services with a view to attracting more inbound visitors from Indonesia, especially the Millennials and the Gen Z, and encouraging them to explore Hong Kong and embark on multi-destination journeys across the Greater Bay Area.
Inspector at Level 2 of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province, Chen Guijie, stated that Guangdong is excited to be part of the Greater Bay Area campaign as it opens new opportunities for them to further increase awareness of the rich melting pot of cultural and energetic modern scenes of Guangdong cities among Indonesian travellers. With comprehensive connectivity between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, multi-destination travel has become easier and seamless for Indonesian travellers, especially families, in exploring the diverse cultural and family-friendly attractions in Guangdong.
Launch of Greater Bay Area tourism website in Indonesian language
The themed website about travel in the Greater Bay Area in Indonesian language (https://www.discovergreaterbayarea.com/id/) was released at the event. Visitors can explore and learn more about the attractions and experiences the Greater Bay Area’s “9 + 2” cities have to offer, in the four categories of “local delicacies”, “theme park thrills”, “festive celebrations” and “culture and heritage”, as well as information about highlight tour routes and more.
Indonesian celebrities star in TV travelogue filmed in Greater Bay Area
Indonesian celebrities Bastian Bintang Simbolon and Sitha Marino were invited to take part in a TV travelogue named “Celebrity on Vacation” filmed in the Greater Bay Area in July. In the travelogue, they introduce Indonesian audience to the cultural heritage sites and popular attractions of different destinations in the Greater Bay Area. The travelogue will be aired on Trans TV channel in Indonesia. The two artists also shared about their filming experience in the Greater Bay Area and the new attractions in the three destinations to the participants at the event of “Greater Bay Area – Connecting Great Experiences”, with the aim to attract more Indonesian travelers to the Greater Bay Area.
TV travelogues about Greater Bay Area broadcast in eight Southeast Asian countries
Through a Canadian broadcasting corporation’s travel program production this May, the tourism offices of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao spotlighted the new fun travel elements and multi-destination tourism in the three destinations. The three tourism offices are also planning to invite Korean celebrities to Hong Kong and Macao, as well as Malaysian celebrities to Guangdong for travel program productions, which will be broadcast on TV channels in eight countries and regions across Southeast Asia. The productions aim to boost the appeal and profile of the Greater Bay Area as a world-class destination, for wider reach into Southeast Asia and other international visitor markets.
Branding Greater Bay Area as a great destination
Through the cooperative mechanism enabled by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Tourism Marketing Organization, MGTO has for long maintained close communication and collaboration with the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province and Hong Kong Tourism Board. The three offices regularly hold tourism promotion meetings to explore the possibilities of collaboration in destination marketing. By collaborative booths, the three tourism offices jointly showcase the three destinations’ tourism resources and multi-destination tour routes, further branding the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a world-class destination.
