4th February 2023 – (Hong Kong) On 2nd February, the Chief Executive John Lee officially announced “Hello Hong Kong” a large-scale global promotional campaign to unveil a series of promotional activities and highlight the many new attractions, developments and opportunities for visitors coming to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the government will also distribute 500,000 air tickets starting from 1st March to welcome people from around the world to come and experience the hospitality of Hong Kong in person.
Meanwhile, the government also invited Hong Kong veteran artists Aaron Kwok, Sammi Cheng, and Kelly Chen to shoot a promotional video. However, the reaction of Mainland netizens after watching the video was not as expected. Many netizens commented that they would not come to Hong Kong again and would rather go to other places to travel.
The promotional video was planned to be released on more than 3,000 media platforms around the world, reaching an estimated 200 million audience. In the promotional video, Aaron Kwok said “Hello” in Cantonese, Sammi Cheng said “Hello” in Mandarin, and Kelly Chen introduced Hong Kong in English. There are many scenes representing Hong Kong in the video, including Central, the Peak, local char chan teng, Victoria Harbour, scenic spots and authentic food.
After the promotional video was released in Mainland, the reaction of Mainland netizens was not as expected. Some claimed that the locals were rude to them whenever they speak putonghua and they were afraid to be ‘besieged and assaulted’. In addition, Mainland netizens expressed that they are more willing to travel to Macao than Hong Kong as there is no discrimination there. Some added that Hong Kong people discriminate against Mainlanders.
In comparison, the locals in Macao are very polite, unlike Hong Kong. However, some netizens also said good things about Hong Kong, “I felt okay when I went there, and sales staff also took the initiative to tell me various discounts that I didn’t know about when I went shopping”, “Many sales staff in Harbour City are very friendly. Similarly, taxi drivers are also polite.”