Tourism is a big business and especially in Hong Kong. Besides the vast number of online travel communities out there, local tourism board does have their own work to market their city to the world. Just recently, I have noticed the Hong Kong Tourism Board have made their way into social media by ways of Facebook (sticker app) and a branded YouTube page.

Let’s start with Facebook. Honestly, I think they are ahead of themselves. They should start with the basics, a blog. A blog can go a long way and offer so much more than their Facebook app. Simply opening a channel and allowing HKTB employees blog (in text, photo, video) about their Hong Kong will sure spark attraction. Who else can show the ins and outs of Hong Kong better than the locals. I know for sure Frommers and Lonely Planet don’t have this type of information and travel communities still lack the local expertise to offer really insightful information.

And their YouTube presence. It’s all wrong. It’s just a bad idea to use YouTube as a platform to showcase their commercials. Actual, real-life videos good, commercials BAD! There are many approaches to this, but simply by sending out couple employees out to the streets armed with a video camera and shoot some real video and audio, let the people see and hear the real sights and sounds of Hong Kong and even conduct interviews with locals/travelers allowing site visitors to get the vibe from real people, not actors. Another way is to utilize the local community and travelers, have them submit videos through some online event, reward them some great incentives and you have some real life videos of Hong Kong that will attract visitors.

This is not doubt the work of Hong Kong marketing/PR, trend and brand, the “it’s popular so I must be part of it” strategy. It’s quite apparent that the team behind it are familiar with the popular social media tools, but they lack the understanding, approach and strategy to make it effective.

I have really compressed this post and it does feel like I’m still missing something. Since this is my first of many post looking into Hong Kong companies and their approach with social media, I’d love to hear some of your feedback, what you like, don’t like, the format, what you’d like to see more of, etc. Leave comments or email me.