Seeing is Believing: Cathay Pacific sponsors a delegation of ethnic Chinese community leaders  from six major European hubs for a confidence-building programme.

A delegation of 129 ethnic Chinese community leaders arrives today for a confidence-building programme dubbed Seeing is Believing.

The Cathay Pacific-sponsored visit is one of the first in a series of initiatives it is planning to help restore international travellers' confidence in Hong Kong as a business and leisure destination.

The delegation is made up of community leaders from six major European hubs - Amsterdam, Belgium, Frankfurt, London, Paris and Rome. The delegates represent everyone from business chambers and travel operators to business people and media representatives.

The aim of the three-day visit is to offer first-hand experience of how things have returned to normal in Hong Kong following the recent SARS outbreak.

With the support of the Government, the Hong Kong Tourism Board and hotel and trade partners, the group will take part in a number of sightseeing activities, and receive briefings from Government officials and travel industry representatives.

Cathay Pacific General Manager, Corporate Communication, Alan Wong said: "We recognise that rebuilding Hong Kong's travel industry will only happen step by step, and the first of which must be to restore confidence among the travelling public. We believe that visits by community leaders from overseas markets is one of the best ways to help spread the message internationally that Hong Kong is a safe place to visit.

"The support from both the Government and travel industry has been crucial to the success of the programme and we are confident that such concerted efforts by the community at large will help bring travellers back to Hong Kong again."