Hong Kong Tourism Board invited 1,730 influencers with 1.6 billion followers in 2 years

The Hong Kong Tourism Board invited more than 1,700 influencers from around the world to the city between 2023 and last year, with the internet personalities having a combined following exceeding 1.6 billion.Responding to an inquiry from lawmaker Chan Hoi-yan, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said the board had invited 1,730 influencers to come to the city over two years, with itineraries tailored to their markets and audiences.“In 2026-27, [the board] will continue to develop themed promotional content aligned with market trends, catering to the interests and needs of target visitor segments across different markets,” Vivian Sum Fong-kwang, permanent secretary for culture, sports and tourism, said in her reply.The bureau’s letter put the combined following of the influencers at more than 1.6 billion.The examples cited by the bureau showed the influencers invited to film their visits to the city covered both long-haul and short-haul tourist markets, such as the United States, Europe, mainland China and the rest of Asia.These included Senegalese-Italian TikTok influencer Khaby Lame, also known as “Speechless Brother”, who has more than 240 million followers on TikTok.