Wang Lei (front row, center), Shandong Provincial Department of Culture & Tourism Director-General, signs a memorandum on tourism with representatives from the Hong Kong SAR during a Shandong tourism promotional event, in Hong Kong SAR, May 31, 2023. (GABY LIN / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – Businesses and authorities from Shandong province and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed several tourism deals on Wednesday as the tourism ties between the two places continue to boom. 

Three memorandums and several cooperation projects on tourism were inked on the sidelines of the 2023 Shandong Week in Hong Kong, which was hosted by the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism.

A lot of new tourism products and new intellectual property have popped up in Shandong in the first half of this year. We hope that, with these, Shandong can attract more tourists from Hong Kong, and all the more so, to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

Wang Lei, Director-General, Shandong Provincial Department of Culture & Tourism

“Shandong province sincerely welcomes visitors from Hong Kong and overseas to be our guests,” Zhou Naixiang, governor of Shandong province, said in his keynote speech at the event.

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Since the optimization of China’s COVID-19 response in February, the country’s tourism sector has experienced a rapid recovery. Shandong’s tourism business has also seen positive growth, according to Wang Lei, director-general of Shandong Provincial Department of Culture & Tourism.

“A lot of new tourism products and new intellectual property have popped up in Shandong in the first half of this year. We hope that, with these, Shandong can attract more tourists from Hong Kong, and all the more so, to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results,” Wang said.

Qingdao, Shandong’s largest city and home to the famous Tsingtao brewery, welcomed its first tour group from Hong Kong in February, soon after the SAR resumed normal travel with the Chinese mainland. 

Zhou Naixiang, governor of Shandong province, delivers his keynote speech during a Shandong tourism promotional event, in Hong Kong SAR, May 31, 2023. (GABY LIN / CHINA DAILY)

Sunny Liu, senior account manager of the Department of Outreach and Hospitality of China Travel Service (Shandong) Ltd, said the number of Hong Kong tour groups visiting Shandong was quite “considerable” and continues to grow. 

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“Since the beginning of May, there have been daily direct flights departing from Hong Kong to Shandong’s Jinan city. Generally, tour groups from Hong Kong arrive in Shandong every day, every week,” Liu said.

“I hope that more people and students from Hong Kong will visit Shandong and learn more about the province,” she added. “The tourism industry in Shandong is very mature. It is definitely worth exploring both the cultural attractions in the province’s inland cities and the coastline sceneries.”

Shandong handicrafts are seen during a Shandong tourism promotional event, in Hong Kong SAR, May 31, 2023. (GABY LIN / CHINA DAILY)

Angela Ng, managing director of Hong Kong-based Blue Sky Travel Services Ltd, said she is hopeful that the travel trade between Hong Kong and Shandong, as well as other mainland provinces, would swiftly recover to pre-pandemic levels.

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“Shandong has different landscapes from those in the southern areas of China. And the province also has diverse tourism resources…It’s a place worth visiting,” she said. “This can actually benefit both Shandong and Hong Kong’s industry.”