Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao plan to jointly develop the overseas tourism market, it was talked about at a meeting on tourism cooperation and development held in Zhuhai on Dec 16. In addition, the past year’s tri-partnership was reviewed, the work plan for next year was advanced, and the 2017 Guangdong International Tourism & Culture Festival to take place in Zhuhai was discussed.

The Tourism Commission of the Hong Kong SAR Government, Zhuhai Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, and Macao Government Tourist Office (MGTO) signed a Framework Agreement on Cooperation in Tourism in July of last year in Hengqin New Area. The agreement calls for a Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Cooperation Conference as a means of communication in addition to regular assemblies to promote mutual tourism, international events, recreational market oversight, and the cultivation of tourism talent, among other objectives.

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao framework on tourism signed last year [Photo provided by the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs & Culture]

To realize the strategic goal of building a Coastal International Leisure Tourist Destination with Hong Kong and Macao, Zhuhai hosted promotional activities in the US, Canada, India, and Thailand markets. This helped to enhance brand awareness and expand major markets in North America, and South and Southeast Asia.

Furthermore, Zhuhai is working on the Zhuhai Tourism Development Overall Plan Revision (2016-30), which is to be issued next year. Meanwhile, the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone Tourism Regulations is also in revision, preparing for legislation next year. Opinions were aired at the conference from Hong Kong and Macao’s tourism bureaus regarding the plans and regulations to realize Zhuhai’s high integration with the two in terms of developing the tourism market.

The 2017 Guangdong International Tourism & Culture Festival is to be hosted in Zhuhai next year. According to an official from the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, the city is now preparing for the biennial event, a new brand of Guangdong’s tourist and cultural development. The festival attracted numerous attendees from home and abroad in previous sessions, consolidating the tourism image and status of an “Energetic Guangdong”.