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Hong Kong’s tourism chief showcased the city’s robust recovery and its ambitious blueprint for a digitally enhanced travel experience during the 13th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Tourism Ministerial Meeting held in Macau on Saturday.
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Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui highlighted a significant milestone for the city's travel sector, revealing that Hong Kong welcomed nearly 50 million visitors in 2025.
This 12 percent year-on-year increase was bolstered by the successful hosting of over 240 mega events, with many taking place at the newly developed Kai Tak Sports Park.
Law attributed this rebound to an integrated approach that weaves together culture, heritage, arts, and sports to create highly immersive experiences for international travelers.
Focusing on the meeting's theme of digital innovation, Law detailed a comprehensive, three-part strategy designed to harness technology for sustainable tourism growth. A key component involves leveraging artificial intelligence and big data to offer personalized, real-time information to visitors.
Through the Discover Hong Kong platform, travelers can now access live updates on crowd sizes and attraction wait times, while upcoming AI-powered features will soon allow users to generate customized travel itineraries and access a dedicated digital travel map.
The city is also actively embedding smart technology directly into its cultural and entertainment attractions to deepen visitor engagement.
Law pointed to several ongoing initiatives, including arts-tech incubation at the East Kowloon Cultural Centre, multimedia heritage displays at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the use of cutting-edge animatronics at Hong Kong Disneyland.
These enhancements aim to encourage visitors to stay longer and spend more while transforming them into global ambassadors for the city’s unique cultural identity.
To ensure these technological advancements benefit the wider industry, the government is partnering with local IT hub Cyberport to connect tech developers with tourism professionals, providing digital solutions that boost overall productivity.
Despite the heavy emphasis on digital upgrades, Law concluded her presentation by emphasizing that technology should serve only to enrich the travel experience, warning that AI and digital tools can never replace the genuine human connections and authentic local stories that define true exploration.
Law's itinerary in Macau also included a Friday meeting with China's Minister of Culture and Tourism Sun Yeli and a welcome dinner before returning to Hong Kong on Saturday afternoon.
