Hong Kong’s six giant pandas have been transformed into tour guides in the Tourism Board’s latest promotional video, as authorities announced the highest non-mainland Chinese visitor numbers in November since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board said the new promotional video, already released online, would begin airing on various television stations beginning on Saturday.
“The giant panda family will take on a new role as Hong Kong’s tourism ambassadors, taking viewers on a journey full of authentic Hong Kong experiences to encourage locals to invite their friends to the city to explore its sights and visit the giant pandas,” the board said on Friday.
The 30-second video features cartoon versions of the city’s six pandas – Ying Ying, Le Le, their two cubs “Elder Sister” and “Little Brother”, as well as the two new adult bears gifted by Beijing, An An and Ke Ke, as they roam around busy streets, eat at a cha chaan teng, dine on specialty dim sum and visit museums.
Two-time Olympic gold-winning fencer Cheung Ka-long was also featured in the video, playfully duelling with one of the pandas at the soon-to-open main stadium at Kai Tak Sports Park.
The new video was released as the board revealed a robust provisional figure of 3.75 million visitors to the city for the month of November. A million of those visitors were not from mainland China.
“[This] is a single-month record since travel fully resumed in Hong Kong [after the pandemic] and is equivalent to a year-on-year increase of about 20 per cent,” the spokesperson said.