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Festival Wishes

Today is Christmas Eve. May I wish you all a joyful and peaceful Christmas and a warm and happy holiday spent with families and friends.

There is still one more week before we say goodbye to 2023. Many festive decorations and lightings are dotting all over our popular streets and shops. More people are seen visiting our busy districts and tourist attractions. We also see many visitors coming to Hong Kong to feel the festive atmosphere and taking pictures at various "checked-in" spots across the city.

I visited Tai Kwun at Hollywood Road, Central earlier and ran into many members of the public and tourists. In talking with them, I learnt that many overseas and Mainland visitors had found the festive atmosphere in Hong Kong to be strong and full of characteristics. They also said that this was exactly the appeal of Hong Kong as an international city, which attracted them to come to experience for themselves the unique vibes here.

I visited Tai Kwun at Hollywood Road, Central earlier to feel the festive atmosphere unique to Hong Kong and talk to members of the public and visitors.

Hong Kong is a cultural melting pot of East and West. Not only do we celebrate major western festivities, we also attach great importance to traditional Chinese ones. Over the recent Winter Solstice, fellow residents were busy meeting up with their families to celebrate the occasion, and many restaurants enjoyed decent patronage at dinner time. Relatives and friends would chitchat at get-togethers, recounting what had happened during the year and cherishing the precious moments being spent together. Apart from offering an opportunity for people to meet, these major festivities also provide a good stimulus for local consumption.

Just over the last couple of weeks, we are offering new places for our fellow residents and tourists to enjoy themselves and spend, including the night market at Temple Street and the 57th Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo (HKBPE), which is now being held in Victoria Park.

The night market at Temple Street has received positive feedback from the community since its launch, attracting crowds of visitors, making the area particularly busy on certain nights. By converting a historic place with unique street culture into a night market full of Hong Kong characteristics and offering delicacies of different places, we are showcasing the mix of "old" and "new", hoping to bring new attractiveness to the district.

I would like to thank the relevant government departments, the Hong Kong Tourism Board, various business associations and local communities for their full support in delivering the idea of creating a more lively Temple Street night market in just a few months. The night market has demonstrated that many of our districts have rich and quality tourism resources. By injecting new elements and new ideas, revitalising the traditional characteristics and blending in new features, we would be able to attract visitors and at the same time provide more interesting places for members of the public to visit.

A few days ago, I also invited several bloggers from the Mainland's social media platforms to join me in visiting the HKBPE. With a long history and a local flair, the HKBPE is a large-scale fair focusing on promoting local brands and products ranging from electrical appliances, housewares to gourmet food and drinks. The HKBPE has attracted quite many locals and Mainland visitors. They have commonly expressed their love for this "taste of Hong Kong".

I invited several bloggers from the Mainland's social media platform to join me in visiting the HKBPE a few days ago to try out the gourmet food and drinks with local characteristics.

Whether it comes to the HKBPE or other Hong Kong products and services, constantly reinventing ourselves and creating breakthroughs is crucial for new characteristics to emerge and allowing us to stay ahead of the competition. It is also the most important element in attracting local consumers and visitors to return. As long as we continue to innovate, grasp the market pulse, understand customer needs and focus on user experience, I am confident that the "Hong Kong brand" will become even more competitive, and we will win new business opportunities locally as well as in overseas markets.

December 24, 2023