Grey HK retains HKTB's three-year creative contract

HKTB spokesperson confirmed the news.

The pitch, announced in November last year, is part of HKTB's three-year open tendering requirement. At the time DDB and DraftFCB were also invited to pitch but declined to participate.

Grey's current contract with HKTB is due to expire in Q1 2011. DraftFCB has also previously worked on the account for over eight years.

HKTB announced earlier this month that the total tourism expenditure associated with inbound tourism in 2010 reached a historic high of US$27 billion, up 32.7 per cent from 2009.

HKTB chairman James Tien said, “Last year, we welcomed 36.03 million visitor arrivals to Hong Kong, 21.8 per cent more than 2009. The increase in arrivals, along with the strengthening of most currencies against the Hong Kong dollar, which stimulated visitors’ spending, led to remarkable growth in the total tourism expenditure.

Looking into 2011, HKTB expects further growth in arrivals to 39.64 million, provided that the global economy remains stable and the Mainland maintains its robust economic growth.

Another contributing factor would be the implementation of measures to facilitate individual visits by both non-Guangdong and Guangdong residents in Shenzhen. All these are projected to give a further boost to the tourism receipts of around US$31 billion in 2011.