The 2026 Hong Kong Tourism Development Forum, co-hosted by China Tourism Group, the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the Hong Kong Hotel Owners Association, with the Hong Kong Tourism Board as supporting organisation, was successfully held at the Hong Kong Ocean Park Marriott Hotel on 9–10 June. Under the theme “Win-Win Collaboration, Technology Empowerment — Bolstering Hong Kong’s Status as the World’s Preferred Premier Tourist Destination”, the forum gave full play to Hong Kong’s role as a “super connector”. It brought together hundreds of industry elites from overseas national tourism authorities, international tourism organisations, renowned tourism enterprises and authoritative academic institutions to foster a new landscape for cultural and tourism cooperation, explore new paths for technology-enabled development, and jointly usher in a new golden age for Hong Kong’s tourism sector.
Since 2024, General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued important instructions on tourism work and service industry development, providing fundamental guidance for CTG to better fulfil its responsibilities as a central tourism enterprise and a central enterprise based in Hong Kong. Building on the inaugural Hong Kong Tourism Development Forum held last year, CTG further anchored core priorities including “serving Hong Kong”, “tourism cooperation” and “technology empowerment”. The forum featured multiple sessions: keynote speeches at the main forum themed on consolidating Hong Kong’s position as the world’s preferred premier tourist destination, a roundtable forum on “Technology Empowering High-Quality Development of Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry”, a tourism retail sub-forum, tourism resource cooperation promotion sessions, a closed-door cruise seminar, release of tourism research reports, and study tours and exchanges on Hong Kong’s cultural and tourism resources. Industry leaders were invited to share cutting-edge insights and proven experience, address industry challenges and development bottlenecks, and offer recommendations for the high-quality growth of Hong Kong’s tourism industry.
Chan Kwok-ki, Chief Secretary for Administration of the HKSAR Government; Zhang Xu, Chairman of the World Tourism Alliance; Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism of the HKSAR; Peter Lam Kin-ngok, Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board; Tam Kwong-shun, Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board; Zhang Weiguo, Director of the China Centre for International Cultural and Tourism Exchange, Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Zhang Dong, Director of the Asia Tourism Exchange Centre; Liu Gang, Senior Official of UN Tourism; and Wang Haimin, Chairman of the Group, attended and delivered speeches in different sessions of the forum.
Chan Kwok-ki stated that this year marks the launch of the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan. The HKSAR Government will soon launch public consultation on Hong Kong’s first five-year plan. The government will actively listen to views from all sectors, align with the strategic direction of the 15th Five-Year Plan, fully leverage the central government’s various favourable policies for Hong Kong, build Hong Kong into the world’s preferred premier tourist destination for global visitors, capitalise on Hong Kong’s unique advantage of “connecting the mainland with the world” in the country’s opening-up, and serve as an important window for exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and Western cultures. He expressed special gratitude to China Travel Group for its efforts in organising the Hong Kong Tourism Development Forum, bringing stakeholders together to pool wisdom and devise strategies for the development of Hong Kong’s tourism industry.
Rosanna Law Shuk-pui remarked that Hong Kong’s tourism industry is steadily recovering. The city received nearly 50 million visitor arrivals last year, representing an increase of over 10% compared with 2024. Such remarkable achievements would not have been possible without the concerted efforts and continuous improvement of the entire tourism ecosystem. The Hong Kong Tourism Board, China Travel Group and all industry practitioners have played vital roles. This year’s forum enables industry players to jointly discuss strategies and put forward incisive views on the future of tourism. As long as we continue to work hand in hand, Hong Kong’s tourism industry will scale new heights and attain even more brilliant accomplishments.
Peter Lam Kin-ngok noted that Hong Kong is an international metropolis blending Chinese and Western cultures, and a key gateway linking Chinese Mainland with the rest of the world. Hong Kong will continue to leverage its unique strength of “rooted in the motherland and connected to the globe”, deepen collaboration with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and international markets, and explore mutually beneficial high-value tourism opportunities. This year’s forum harnesses technological empowerment to drive innovation and smart development, opening up prospects for higher-quality and more sustainable growth in the tourism sector.
Wang Haimin said that having been rooted in Hong Kong for nearly a century, the Group actively pursues the vision of “Tourism Everywhere in Hong Kong” and strives to “create joyful experiences and fulfil a better life”. It has converted the Kai Tak temporary facility into a youth cultural, creative and exchange centre, acquired DFS’s travel retail businesses in Hong Kong and Macao, deployed regular cruise operations homeported in Hong Kong, and will arrange two domestically built large cruise ships to call at Hong Kong this year. The forum offers recommendations for Hong Kong’s five-year plan and the long-term development of its tourism industry, strengthens exchanges between Hong Kong and tourism peers in mainland China and worldwide, and helps consolidate Hong Kong’s standing as the world’s preferred premier tourist destination.
At the main forum, Guo Huiguang, Chairman and CEO of Shangri-La Group, delivered a speech titled “Boosting Hong Kong’s International Tourism Competitiveness through Cultural Innovation”; Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group Ltd, spoke on “From International Hub to Global Preference: The Path of Globalisation Upgrade for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry”; Tom Zhang, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent Group and CEO of Cloud and Smart Industries Group, addressed “AI Empowers Hong Kong to Build a World-Class Smart Tourism Destination”; Wang Haijun, Founder and Chief User Experience Officer of Atour Group, presented “Building Heartfelt Connections through Differentiated Experiences”; Ma Yin, Founder and CEO of Aranya, shared “Beginning with Vacation, Ending with Community”; Yu Pao Chen, Global President of Travel Retail, L’Oréal Group, spoke on “Envisioning a New Landscape for the Beauty Industry”; Wong Anthony, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, APAC Experiences, Warner Bros. Discovery, delivered “Boundless Magic, Localised Experiences: Bespoke Experiences Tailored for the Asian Market”; and Chen Ranfeng, CEO of Adora Cruises, presented “Deeply Rooted in the Greater Bay Area, Linked to the World — Supporting Hong Kong as Asia’s Cruise Hub”. Centring on the forum theme, they shared industry insights and development experience from diverse perspectives.
Dai Bin, President of the China Tourism Academy, moderated the roundtable forum. Together with guests including Duncan Chiu, Legislative Council Member for the Technology and Innovation Constituency of Hong Kong; Tong Teng, Vice President of Fliggy, Alibaba Group; Fang Tengfei, Vice President of Tencent Cloud and Head of Tencent Cultural & Tourism Smart Business; Fang Ming, Vice President of iFLYTEK; Max Richter, Co-founder and Vice President of Global Marketing, Insta360; Wang Dong, Founder and CEO of Lighten; Wang Hao, Senior Director of Intelligent Solutions, Volcano Engine; and Li Yang, Director of Public Affairs for Asia Pacific at Booking, they exchanged views on technology-enabled high-quality development of Hong Kong’s tourism sector.
The subsequent tourism retail sub-forum focused on consumer insights. Zhou Jun, Co-founder of Shixiang Group, gave a thematic presentation. Liao Junxiong, Chief Marketing Officer of CDFG; Zhang Feng, Lead of WeCom Pan-Retail Industry, Tencent Group; Cheung Man Fung, Vice President of Macau Operations, DFS Group; and Yang Hongyu, Vice President of Jingli Technology, held a roundtable discussion themed “From Traffic Insights to Business Symbiosis: How Data Restructures the New Travel Retail Ecosystem in Hong Kong and Macao”. At the closed-door cruise seminar, Qiu Ling, Deputy Director of the Shanghai International Cruise Economic Research Center; Ho Chi-ting, Assistant Commissioner for Tourism, Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the HKSAR Government; and Yuen Pui-fong, Director of Cruise Business, Hong Kong Tourism Board, discussed “Win-Win Cooperation, Serving Hong Kong — Jointly Building Hong Kong as a New High Ground for Asia’s International Cruise Hub”.
During the tourism resource promotion session, Hu Xiaoying, Chief Technology Officer of China Travel Service, introduced the China Travel Service App. Cultural and tourism promotion representatives from Anhui, Xinjiang, Jiangsu, Hainan, Shaanxi and Changchun, Jilin, staged roadshows of cultural and tourism resources under the theme “Hello! China” inbound tourism and “Tastes of China”. Onur Gözet, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Türkiye; Anne Laure Tuncer, General Manager for the Far East, Atout France; and Teresa Siles, Tourism Counsellor at the Spanish Consulate General in Guangzhou, presented premium tourism resources of their respective countries. During the forum, the Group and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University jointly released the “Visitor Satisfaction Index Report for Hong Kong”, assessing visitor satisfaction with service quality across five segments: scenic spots, hotels, catering, retail and transportation, and compiling the visitor satisfaction index. Adora Cruises announced on-site that Olympic champion Guo Jingjing would serve as the maiden voyage ambassador for the second domestically built large cruise ship, “Adora Flora City”, witnessing this national landmark vessel sail from the Greater Bay Area to the world. On 11 June, selected guests visited Hong Kong’s “Sail 1331” project, Kai Tak Cruise Terminal and the “Piano Land” cruise ship operating with Hong Kong as its home port.
Over 500 guests attended the forum, including Zhang Yong, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; Pan Feng, Chairman of the Europe-China Economic Cooperation and Development Council and Vice Chairman of the China Association for European Economic and Technical Cooperation; Philip Chow, Chairman of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Chief Executive Officer; Chen Yin, Member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; Yu Xiao, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association; Guo Shaowei, Deputy Director of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; Chu Sui-man, Acting Commissioner for Tourism, Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the HKSAR; Lui Wai-yu, Chairman of the Hong Kong Hotel Owners Association; Zhu Jie, Deputy General Manager of China Taiping Insurance Group; Xue Lijun, Deputy General Manager of Bauhinia Culture Group; Legislative Council Members Vivian Kong and Yiu Pak-leung; Group Directors Liu Kun, Zhong Ping, Zhang Guofa and Tsang Wai-hung; Sun Chengming; Jin Hongyan, Chief Accountant; Deputy General Managers Jian Yi, Lin Nüchao and Hu Zhimin; as well as staff representatives from various Group entities.