Collaborative strategies

However, she has a positive outlook for cultural tourism development in the Greater Bay Area, suggesting that Hong Kong, Macao and the nine Guangdong cities leverage their complementary strengths to create synergy and make the region a unified tourism brand.

Guan says he believes it's essential to develop tourism in the region as a whole, noting that, compared with other popular tourist destinations in the country, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Xi'an, cities in the Greater Bay Area are better known internationally for commerce.

"When people talk about Guangzhou or Shenzhen, the first thing that comes to their mind is business. How can we promote tourism in these cities? Instead of developing the industry on their own, cities in the Greater Bay Area should work together to integrate their resources and build the Greater Bay Area into a tourism brand so that the region's attractiveness and competitiveness, as a whole, can be strengthened," Guan suggests.

Guangdong's Department of Culture and Tourism — formerly the Tourism Administration of Guangdong province — the Hong Kong Tourism Board, and the Macao Government Tourism Office jointly set up the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Tourism Marketing Organization in 1993 to boost communication, share resources and foster joint development.

The organization has been implementing a rotating chairmanship system since 2008, with Guangdong acting as chair this year. At their 85th work meeting in Guangzhou in March, tourism officials from the three cities agreed to roll out joint promotion projects this year, such as promotional campaigns in Europe, promoting multidestination tourism products overseas through online platforms, and inviting international industry players to visit the Greater Bay Area.

A joint overseas promotion campaign was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, last year, launching various initiatives to enable travelers from the Southeast Asian nation to learn more about the Greater Bay Area's tourism resources, and increase their interest in visiting the region.

Discounts were offered to Indonesian tourists booking flight tickets, hotels and tourist activities through certain travel agencies. Celebrities who are popular among younger people were invited to visit Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, with programs to introduce the region's cultural and historical sites.

"Developing multidestination tourism products in the Greater Bay Area is among our priorities. The updating rate of our multidestination tourism products could reach 30 to 40 percent annually in the past few years," says Guan.

According to a report published by Sun Yat-sen University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong last year, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Macao, with abundant leisure resources and developed infrastructures, were the top three choices of tourists among cities in the Greater Bay Area.

Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Fo-shan led in the quality of services, while Zhaoqing, Jiangmen and Huizhou were seen as more affordable cities as their level of consumption was relatively low.

Contact the writer at sally@chinadailyhk.com