Replies to initial written questions raised by Finance Committee Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13 Director of Bureau : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Session No. 12 File name : cedb(cit)- doc
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Question : According to its forecast, how many new sponsors will the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) “solicit”, from what sectors will it recruit co-operative partners, and what is the amount of sponsorship it will obtain in taking forward the initiative of “a year-round event calendar”? Are there policies to prevent a recurrence of the withdrawal of sponsorship similar to that in the recent New Year Fireworks Display which resorted to subvention by public money? Asked by : Hon. TSE Wai-chun, Paul Reply : The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) is actively seeking sponsorships from different channels for financing part of the expenses of its large scale events in 2012-13. Immediately following the staging of various large scale events last year, the HKTB had already started to discuss continued sponsorship with the relevant sponsoring organisations. In fact, the sponsors of the International Chinese New Year Night Parade and the Hong Kong Mid-Autumn Festival have already agreed in principle to provide sponsorship for the respective events for three consecutive years starting from 2012. Sponsorship for the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival has also been secured. These sponsoring organisations are all related to the tourism and catering sectors. The exact amount of sponsorship will be subject to further discussion between the HKTB and the respective organisations. In addition, the HKTB placed advertisements in major local newspapers in January 2012 to invite sponsorship from commercial organisations. The HKTB aims to obtain a total of $56.2 million in commercial sponsorship this year, which is 25% more than in 2011-12. Apart from maintaining an established mechanism for seeking sponsorship, the HKTB has put in place contingency measures in case it is unable to secure sponsorship for a large scale event. The HKTB normally begins promotion of a large scale event in visitor source markets two to three months prior to the actual staging of the event. This means that sponsorship needs to be secured at least two months in advance of the promotion. Where sponsorship of venue is required, the lead time will be six months in advance of the promotion. In the event that the HKTB is unable to secure sponsorship for a large scale event before the launch of market promotion, the HKTB will consult the Board and its Product and Event Committee whether to proceed with the staging of the event and related promotion, and examine the possibility of redeploying internal resources for financing the event. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||