New tourism platform for fun, food discounts

Grab your phone and get ready for 200,000 offers on retail, dining and tourist attractions, with huge discounts of up to 75 percent, in a new promotion campaign by the Tourism Board from Thursday next week.

The first batch covers 47 merchants, including Ocean Park, which offers 30 percent off on the all-day package ticket, and Gyu-Kaku, where a 100-minute beef dinner buffet is 75 percent off at HK$142 each.

The board said these limited offers under its new HK$30 million "Hot Summer Deals" campaign are from more than 200 merchants and people can avail of them if they set up an account on the Discover Hong Kong website.

After registration on the new e-platform with their mobile number and basic information like name, they can pick and store up to three offers in each e-wallet. They have to redeem the offers within 30 days.

Once people have selected the offer and placed it in the e-wallet, it cannot be removed, the board said.

After they redeem an offer, the e-wallet will create a place for another offer. To take up the offer, people will have to log in to their account on their mobile phone and scan the HKTB QR code provided by the merchant in person.

The offers cannot be transferred to others.

Each merchant or tourist attraction will provide dozens to thousands of offers and the board said it will collect the untaken offers.

The 200,000 offers will be launched in four batches on four Thursdays - July 14 and 28 and August 11 and 25 -on a first-come, first-served basis.

Apart from the limited offers, people can save other top offers from more than 100 merchants and attractions to their e-wallet.

A spokesman for the board said the new e-platform is not only for locals but for tourists as well.

The board's executive director, Dane Cheng Ting-yat, said the one-stop e-platform has been under preparation for about half a year. The board is considering extending it to other events.

He said the campaign follows the success of "Spend-to-Redeem" local tours, staycation delights and "Feasts 'n Treats," which launched in May.

Meanwhile, this year's Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo will run between December 4 and 27 at Victoria Park, featuring more than 860 booths. It will open daily from 11am to 9pm between December 4 and 27, and from 11am to 8pm on its last day.

It is understood the expo will feature, among others, a designated zone displaying classic toys of different eras.

sophie.hui@singtaonewscorp.com