Hong Kong welcomes the Year of the Snake with its travel trade partners

It was a festive and celebratory evening at Malaparte at the Bell Lightbox in Toronto last night (Jan. 23, 2025) as the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO, Toronto) teamed up to welcome the Year of the Snake.

Close to 170 VIP travel trade and business executives were on hand for the HKTB’s and HKETO’s annual Hong Kong Chinese New Year reception which featured the traditional Lion Dance and a spectacular demonstration of the mesmerizing sand art of celebrated artist Hoi Chiu.

In welcoming guests to the event, HKTB’s Jorge Lee observed that the New Year is a time for fresh beginnings, new hopes, new friends and new collaborations.

And, in this respect, Lee continued that in 2025, the HKTB – which has always been a “strong and steadfast” partner – will continue to strengthen its relationships with the travel trade in Canada.

The strength of those relationships was certainly evident in 2024 as Hong Kong’s tourism numbers took off like a rocket.

Lee told his audience that Hong Kong welcome approximately 45 million visitors globally, with 1.2 million of those travellers arriving from North America, including 320,000 Canadians – representing a 50% increase from this market in 2024.

So, it was not surprising that Lee was in an upbeat mood during the evening, however, he made it clear that achieving these kind of results can’t be accomplished without “our trade partners.”

Said Lee: “Without the [Canadian travel] trade’s support, we wouldn’t have achieved these impressive results in 2024.”

As for 2025, Lee made it clear that the HKTB remains committed to supporting its tour operator and travel agency partners and strengthening its collaboration with them.

So, what’s left to say, well simply: Kung Hei Fat Choi …

 

 

Tags: , , ,