The Hong Kong Tourism Board is eager to familiarize Canadians with the destination’s food and culture alike, highlighting both during a Feb. 12 Toronto gathering for a cross-section of the travel industry.
The tourism board’s Jorge Lee told those on hand that his destination is a “food paradise … Around October to November the city brings out special culinary experiences and offers, starting with the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, when the team city welcomes chefs and wineries from around the world for culinary celebrations, wine tasting and entertainment.”
Lee used the event — which coincided with the Chinese New Year — to note that the tourist board has created Taste Hong Kong, billed as a “chef-curated gourmet guide” jointly launched by the tourist board and the Chinese Culinary Institute and which features over “250 restaurants personally selected by over 50 master chefs.”
Taste Hong Kong offers an “insider perspective on the city’s most authentic food experiences,” Lee added.
Event attendees were served such Chinese food offerings as dumplings.
The evening also saw a Hong Kong group sing in both English and Cantonese, and a lion dance.
Lee told the audience that Hong Kong is always a lively part of the world.
“You’ll experience something new every time you go to Hong Kong,” he said. “After all, Hong Kong is the event capital of Asia. There is always something happening, starting in the early part of the year, when we celebrate the Lunar New Year, when the city transforms into one big festival celebration, to Arts in Hong Kong in March, when Hong Kong becomes a global meeting place for arts lovers, to Hong Kong Sevens in April to Hong Kong Dragon Boat Races in June and all the way to the New Year Countdown, when the city celebrates some of the world’s best talents and fireworks. ”
Meanwhile, Lee said Hong Kong’s popularity is on the upswing in this country, with 362,000 of us visiting it last year, a 13% increase over the previous year.
In the photos
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Carrying the flag for the Hong Kong Tourism Board at the Toronto event were Jorge Lee, Yuen Kan Wong, Carol Lam and Clark Hung.
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Hillary Nguyen of the Korea Tourism Organization (left) is seen with the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Yuen Kan Wong and a colourful ambassador for Hong Kong here. Korea and Hong Kong cooperate on tourism.
