The need for storytelling to attract tourism…
No one’s going to agree with everyone else about what attracts them to visit a particular place because it comes down to so many personal reasons and preferences, especially at a time when there’s a reticence to travel. Why? The unexpected, which, ironically, used to be the main reason TO travel.
Today, depending on one’s age and travelling companions, the question that seems to come up more and more often is whether it’s worth it. I put this down to many of us still in lockdown mode and not knowing what we’re looking for and where we’re going.
That sense of adventure and wanderlust seem to have gone. And if it has, the advertising and marketing needs to somehow change radically in order to change this mindset- and think completely differently about how to sell unfamiliar destinations.
This is where marketing has to break away from the expected- “corporate” and heavily researched strategies that seldom put themselves in the shoes of the traveller- often, a confused person and perhaps waiting to be shown something new and how to get there.
Of course, there have been some brilliant and award winning advertising campaigns over the years, but how successful were these in bringing tourists and investors with spending power to the locations being marketed?
In many ways, marketing anything today is about the message having interactivity and an empathy driven raison d'être. This raison d'être can be a deal maker or deal breaker.
REDISCOVERING THE MOTHERLAND…
Not because I was born there, but having only fairly recently been reintroduced to Sri Lanka, my former home when known as Ceylon, pretty much has it all as a getaway and tourist attraction and with something to spare for everyone.
Having said this, like every other tourism board seems to do, the ways those in Sri Lanka market this island paradise with the eighth wonder of the world is on the Siesta cusp.
It’s pretty much everything seen before and nothing that says, “If you think you know everything about Sri Lanka, think again!”
Where Sri Lanka IS winning, however, is through the most effective advertising of all- word of mouth advertising.
The island seIls itself and those who visit it- many from China and Hong Kong- want it to remain their little secret.
THE DANISH POL SAMBAL STRUDEL…
When living with Kristine, a wonderful Danish girl who had the gypsy in her soul, she saved me from myself by forcing me out of my comfort zone at one of the most expensive service apartments and which she thought was like something out of the Eighties television series “Dynasty”.
Though new to Hong Kong, she found us a walk up in a part of Hong Kong I never knew existed- and which taught me to breathe for the first time.
How we got together was when after a chance meeting in Hong Kong during a working holiday for her from Dubai and a few text messages, she told me straight that if we were ever going to try and get together, I would need to spend Christmas with her- in Sri Lanka.
She was an architect, and with some friends in Dubai had made plans to spend Christmas in Kandy and wasn’t going to change those plans.
I surprised myself: I embraced spontaneity, said screw it, and flew to Colombo to see her though not knowing what to expect.
Apart from a visit back to my motherland after almost two decades, it was the start of a relationship that easily rolled to be something special and was locked into place for as long as it started.
Kristine loved Sri Lanka, and I loved the fact that she did, because her joy in being on the island and everything around it was infectious.
On one memorable visit, she decided that we spend time in Galle and made all the arrangements. She booked us into a no-frills guesthouse with no real modern amenities. There was no elevator and we had to climb up to our room and then climb into bed. That and a few other spontaneous and pleasurable things constituted my workout for the day.
One morning I woke up and Kristine wasn’t around. She had left a message saying that she was down the road and to just look for her.
I found her in the home of a local family in Galle who was teaching her to make a typical Sri Lankan breakfast/lunch and which was meant to be a surprise for me.
It was a surprise because what was served was a simple and delicious meal and I remember thinking, THIS would be such a cool way to advertise and market Sri Lanka- a spirited Danish girl learning to prepare a Sri Lankan meal for someone originally from the island and who, before this, never knew what made it special.
It was a world of difference from a service apartment at Convention Plaza in Hong Kong and the nouveau riche gaudiness of Dubai.
Whereas Sri Lanka is a magical place for those looking for beaches, sunshine, fresh seafood food, fruit, vegetables and friendly people, most of whom speak English, Hong Kong has always been known for its bargains and 24/7 nightlife, both of which are on life support today.
It would be an understatement to say that Hong Kong is suddenly dumbed down and desperately in need of a Wake Up Call and a reassurance that things can only get better. Happiness is not only in very short supply, it’s just not here.
This was one of the reasons I last year invited my longtime friend Simon Fuller, below with my daughter Taryn, to Hong Kong.
With his Rolodex, and international marketing chutzpah, I was hoping he could see this exciting city that he knows extremely well stuck in reverse, and why he might be able to give it a much needed shot in the arm of positivity.
It was a rather wasted visit, because those he met were probably a tad too set in their ways and trying to be who they thought they should be. I have listened to them nattering and gone astral travelling. It’s nice out there.
Yes, timing is everything, and right now with the world news almost always being about the deranged power crazed behaviour of the eighty year old despot in the Dark House, it gives the rest of the world a chance to regroup, create unity and harmony and slowly inhale and exhale the foul air.
As for Hong Kong, it might be part of China, but it also has its own brand personality though what this is today isn’t clear to me. Maybe I missed something.
What I haven’t missed are pretty ho hum and even unnecessary campaigns for tourism like “Hello Hong Kong”, “Happy Hong Kong”, “Night Vibes”, the handing out of coupons and probably a few other pretty meaningless things to show that people are working.
How successful have these campaigns been despite KPI driven stories in the newspapers about “surges” in tourism?
Were these campaigns for Hong Kong Belongers or the overseas market?
It’s often difficult to tell because I believe that the city has lost focus, an aspirational culture and the game changers it needs.
What I see is a serving of potluck where these days sports and “entertainment” appear to be covering all bases. But trying to be all things to all people with a couple of options results in looking like a random bowl of chop suey de la committee.
Before any of this, surely the question to ask is where’s the inspiration? Who has the ideas? What’s the USP?
Does the latest campaign for the Hong Kong Tourism Board answer at least some of these questions?
In the rush to advertise and market whatever it is that’s being marketed, I believe the world has forgotten about the need for storytelling- not algorithms and borrowed ideas about the wants and needs of GenZ- but almost always ending up with Aaron Kwok.
As a journalist, news and marketing and imparting information is storytelling and it’s the New Journalism Tom Wolfe wrote about and which film makers like Steven Spielberg, Cameron Crowe and musicians Bob Dylan, McCartney and Lennon and Joni Mitchell and the television series “Mad Men” brought to life. It’s no different to a soap opera, but without the suds.
If Hong Kong was to create ongoing real life stories using places mentioned above as backdrops, and a regular cast with stories built around them and stream these, there’s so much MORE that this might evolve into.
It will be new marketing and make things like “Expats” and “Crazy Rich Asians” look like the trite, light and wretched little clichés they are.
What Hong Kong has are stories- brilliant stories about its past, the present, the films made here, those fabulous Hong Kong Hilton sponsored race days hosted by then General Manager James Smith, the rise of Canto Pop, enter Bruce Lee, Canton disco, The China Club, the horse racing and all the different characters from all over the world.
Creating an ongoing series that brings all this together with interactivity and new and old music and using all the online platforms available along and inflight entertainment with a totally new way of showcasing this content just might wake Hong Kong up from its Big Sleep.
And with the number of tourists from Hong Kong and China visiting my motherland, this series can easily find a cameo appearance when cross promoting Sri Lanka and work towards creating a One World product.
Copyright ©️ Hans Ebert, August, 2026
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