(L-R): Cindy Wang, Tourism Vancouver and Inspector Ke Gangming, Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports & Tourism
(L-R): Shenzhen's Chen Biao & Inspector Ke Gangming and HKTB's Michael Lim & James Tung
Silk Holidays' entourage including Vice President, Ricky Poon (left)
Tourism officials from Hong Kong and Shenzhen are encouraging North American travellers to visit both cities while in the region.
In Vancouver to announce their joint promotional partnership, officials from the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports & Tourism hosted a reception at the Hyatt Regency hotel.
Due to their geographic proximity, visitors can make day trips by train from Honk Kong to Shenzhen in only 100 minutes. By 2015, the Express Rail Link will shorten the travelling time to 48 minutes. Hong Kong hotels also offer daily tour departures for groups of 3 or more.
Situated north of Hong Kong, Shenzhen is a coastal city within the Guangdong province in south China. It is known for its many theme parks including the China Folk Culture Village, providing an insight into China's history and many cultures. In 2010, the New York Times listed the city as “one of the world's 31 must-see places”. Shenzhen was also awarded “The City of Design” by UNESCO in 2008.
Ever the bustling metropolis, Hong Kong already offers many tourist attractions. But the city is adding a number of new areas of interest such as new displays to Ocean Park including a soon-to-open Polar Adventure Showcase and the arrival of a Pacific Walrus and rare Golden Monkeys. To be completed by the year-end, the park's attractions will double from 35 to 70. In the near future, it will welcome three resort properties onsite – Summit Hotel & Spa, Ocean Hotel and Fisherman's Wharf Hotel. In terms of new projects, the former Kai Tak Airport is being redeveloped as a cruise terminal that will accommodate the largest cruise ships and is expected to be completed by 2015.
To entice Hong Kong visitors to take a side trip to Shenzhen, Guangdong province is offering a 144-hour (6 days) visa at no charge for international visitors arriving from Hong Kong to any of its ports.
