Hong Kong Industrial Brand Tourism - a new idea
The Hong Kong Government is trying to hard
Me Jamie, your host, I am English and I have lived in Hong Kong for 53 years - I know the place.
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Hong Kong Industrial Brand Tourism - a new idea being proposed
TThe Hong Kong Government is trying to hard
… and why has the Government overlooked the Garden Bakery in Sham Tseng Hong Kong, it probably has more brand recognition than all the other companies combined and it is already set up to offer a comprehensive tour of this particular facility.
click on the image to enlarge
The text below is the result of a search request I did for “Hong Kong Industrial Brand Tourism” on the AI Search Engine Grok
This is the AI explanation
Hong Kong Industrial Brand Tourism
Description: This project involves organized tours of facilities operated by iconic Hong Kong brands such as Lee Kum Kee (soy sauce), Pat Chun, Kee Wah Bakery, and Yakult. These tours offer behind-the-scenes insights into the production processes of these well-known companies, showcasing Hong Kong’s industrial heritage.
Objective: To provide unique urban exploration experiences that highlight the “Made in Hong Kong” brand, appealing to visitors interested in industrial tourism.
Timeline: Tours are slated to begin in the third quarter of 2025.
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government has introduced nine innovative tourism projects as part of its strategy to enhance the city’s tourism landscape, as outlined in the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry 2.0. These projects, spearheaded by the Working Group on Developing Tourist Hotspots, aim to cater to evolving tourist preferences by offering unique, in-depth experiences that highlight Hong Kong’s culture, heritage, nature, and industrial strengths. Below is a detailed overview of the nine projects based on available information.
These projects reflect Hong Kong’s commitment to diversifying its tourism offerings, enhancing visitor experiences, and boosting the local economy through strategic, culturally rich, and sustainable initiatives. For further details, you can refer to the official announcements on the Hong Kong Tourism Commission website or related news sources.
Hong Kong’s industrial brand tourism is an emerging initiative to boost tourism by showcasing the city’s manufacturing heritage and entrepreneurial spirit through factory tours and immersive experiences. Set to launch in Q3 2025, the project involves iconic brands like sauce makers Lee Kum Kee and Pat Chun, bakery chain Kee Wah, and probiotics company Yakult. Visitors can tour production facilities, observe manufacturing processes, and take home souvenirs, offering a unique glimpse into Hong Kong’s industrial legacy. The Federation of Hong Kong Industries, led by Steve Chuang, highlights the global success of similar models, such as whiskey tours in Scotland or chocolate factory visits in Europe, predicting strong interest. The initiative, part of nine tourism hotspot projects announced by the government, aims to diversify attractions beyond traditional shopping and sightseeing, with plans to include pharmaceutical plant tours. This aligns with efforts to revitalize tourism, leveraging Hong Kong’s reputation as a hub of innovation and quality manufacturing.
Let me be clear, I applaud the Government for showing initiative when it comes to tourism in Hong Kong but there are a number of issues to be covered 9n regards to the 9 new tourism projects (click on the yellow button above) but I did not comment on the idea of Hong Kong Industrial Brand Tourism until the Government clarified certain aspects, my research is always quite thorough and yes, I am getting the impression that “to many cooks spoil the broth”
What to me is interesting is that Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing, who chairs the Working Group on Developing Tourist Hotspots is making all the speeches with very little information being put forward by our Tourism Authorities, one way of putting it is that, this chap is a very senior official and to be honest the Tourism Board has not covered itself in glory in the past few decades, so perhaps this is a sign that the Government is really taking the issue seriously now.
In the overall scheme of things I am a NOBODY, however I pioneered the Private Tour Business in Hong Kong starting in 2010 and since then I have devoted my life to Hong Kong and in particular the tourism aspects, I am out and about showing foreign guests around who pay for my expertise, I am into tourism 24 | 7 and i have vast experience in showing people around Hong Kong and yes, I have lived in Hong Kong for 53 years and counting
I have written extensively on the subject of overtourism in Hong Kong and I am in despair at Government policies when it comes to tourism (ie the Tourism Board and related departments) who are simply focused on numbers and have been since 2003, we had 45 million visitors last year which most cities would be overjoyed to have but no, they want to beat the previous record pre covid of 65 million visitors in 2018 and 100 million is their target.
Pretty much every year Mainland Chinese visitors are 77 - 80% of the total visitors which in itself a clear indicator that something is wrong and this was all well and good until the end of 2023 when it became clear that Mainland Chinese tourists where no longer coming here to eat and shop, they where coming here to explore and take selfies… even to this day our Tourism Board seems to be in denial of this shift in tourism habits. our Deputy Chief Secretary gets it, he must because he is using the world selfies in numerous speeches.
The one thing that is always not very clear at all is who are the “brilliant new ideas” aimed at, are they aiming for foreign tourists or just sticking to the tried and trusted concept of wooing Mainland Chinese Tourists? and we are still in the dark about this.
So back to the subject at hand and that is Industrial Brand Tourism.
As far as I know i have not come across the term before, I recall some one off factory tours a long time ago (which took 5 hours) although the Government is probably not aware that quite a few of my friends have been doing Brewery Tours for quite some time now, however I think it is doubtful that the Government would want this to become mainstream with the Mainland Chinese Tourists.!
The brands they have mentioned are household names in Hong Kong, I have Lee Kum Kee soy sauce in the cupboard and Yakult in the fridge, probably the most famous story about Yakult was when some years ago rumours started to spread that if you drank a lot of yakult and you were a female your boobs would grow bigger! i have always contended that this was what put Yakult on the map in Hong Kong.
Yakult is a probiotic drink from Japan and has been around for 90 years.
What does surprise me is that Garden Bakery has not been mentioned, pretty much all the bread and biscuits in Hong Kong are from the Garden Bakery and I have been eating their stuff for 53 years on a daily basis.
Garden Bakery will celebrate its 100th year anniversary in 1926
I should also point out that in the town we live in there is a huge Garden Bakery facility (see image above)
There are other brands particularly in the drinks business which should be on the list, ie Vitasoy, The Kowloon Dairy, Hung Fook Tong etc
So has the Government come up with a brilliant idea or is it going to create problems.?
Personally I would be fascinated by the idea of a tour of Garden Bakery for example (as long they could offer the tour in English) but how does a factory reconcile operating a food and drink factory with strict hygiene standards with the idea of 50 - 100 people tramping through the place for an hour or two.
In my experience Food and Drink factories are NOT in convenient locations in Hong Kong, they will require a substantial amount of travel time….. The Government has mentioned Pharmaceutical Factories maybe added to the list and what worries me is that the Government will rely on Travel Agents to organise the tours which may solve the transport issues but I know a lot of coach tour companies in Hong Kong have very poor reputations and poor tour guides as well and I rather suspect that the tours will NOT be cheap.
They are certainly going to have think very carefully about this and its projected popularity, will it be a short tour or a long tour, is the factory in a convenient location with adequate transport links, what transport options are required to get to the factory, how much will the tour cost, will you be required to buy souvenirs, will the tours run 7 days a week, there are a whole bunch of issues that need to be ironed out!
Has the Government taken into consideration of what might happen if 30 - 50 million Mainland Chinese Tourists want to do these Industrial Tours, we have noticed in Hong Kong what happens when they discover a new selfie spot or find some place interesting to visit, a focus group or a poll of visitors are meaningless when it comes to potentially millions of people wanted to do an “Industrial Tour” you can simply not predict what will happen., it is a fools errand and this is before thinking about the demand from Hong Kong residents to visit their favourite food and drink factories! I am quite sure there will be heavy demand.
If you think i am losing my marbles, think on this, even in a very slow year Victoria Peak in Hong Kong gets between 7 - 10 million people a year visiting it…. my point is simple, you simply cannot predict how popular a tourist attraction will be and are they prepared for what will happen if factory tours become popular on Chinese Social Media
Finally I am not overly sure if the Hong Kong Government has looked at the TIME factor, when it comes to tours, TIME is a critical factor, for these factory visits you are looking at a 5 - 6 hour tour including transport, if you are only here for the day that maybe a major issue, it will be interesting to see how they will promote these tours.
157,000 Mainland Chinese Tourists a day on average visit Hong Kong
The World according to Grok
The data was collated by the AI Engine Grok in response to my query about Hong Kong Industrial Brand Tourism which is the current “buzz word | phrase” being put forward by the Hong Kong Government
click on the image to enlarge.
This is a Garden Bakery truck in TST, Kowloon opposite the Peninsula Hotel, the trucks have a very distinct design and are pretty visible!.
My insider tip
Please note that in general if you book a tour on Viator or Tripadvisor you generally have NO control over what guide will lead your Private Tour of Hong Kong and this is the most important component of the tour. I urge you to check the actual company website and book via their website and do not forget to read Tripadvisor reviews as well.
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