Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung, at the Ministry of Culture & Tourism’s invitation, attended the 14th China-US Tourism Leadership Summit held in Xi’an today and spoke at a thematic seminar session.

Noting that Hong Kong has been an important gateway for visitors from the US to travel to Mainland China and Asia, Mr Yeung highlighted that the city has attracted around 800,000 visitors from the US since it resumed cross-boundary tourism in February 2023.

A cultural melting pot of East and West, Hong Kong’s attractive scenery and diverse culinary offerings hold great appeal for international visitors, he said.

“With our country’s staunch support, Hong Kong has been actively developing into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, staging more and more international cultural, arts and trending events, among which Art Basel has become an annual mega event in Hong Kong, while the US’ largest pop-culture carnival, ComplexCon, also landed in Asia and Hong Kong for the first time this year.

“Traditional cultural and festive events, including the Dragon Boat Festival races and Christmas celebrations, have also transformed into appealing tourism experiences for both Chinese and foreign visitors.”

Mr Yeung stressed that such developments have provided Hong Kong with the conditions to combine cultural and artistic activities, sports competitions, and other mega events, thus enhancing the city’s attractiveness to international travellers, including those from America.

“We are confident that more visitors from the US will come to visit Hong Kong this year,” he added.