Hong Kong Tourism Board
The Challenge
SARS (bird flu) devastated tourism to Asia, and particularly to Hong Kong, for many months. Once the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) had lifted their travel advisories, the Hong Kong Tourism Board needed to swiftly reassure business and leisure travelers that it was once again safe to explore Hong Kong. DCI sprang into action.
The Results
- A PR Newswire release announcing that Hong Kong travel advisories had been lifted appeared on news and travel web sites within 30 minutes of its distribution and received national pick-up in print editions within 24 hours.
- NBC’s Peter Greenberg broadcasted his weekly online radio show and produced stand-ups for NBC’s “Today,” CNBC and MSNBC, reports which reached more than 83 million viewers, as he stood in Hong Kong and said, “I’m not wearing a mask and neither are the people you see around me. It’s safe to come back to Hong Kong.”
- “Welcome back” press trip with 13 North American writers and additional proactive media outreach resulted in more than $1 million worth of positive editorial coverage.
- Travel to Hong Kong growing 7.4 percent post-SARS within six months.
