Issue No. 23 - Feb 2010
One-stop Cross-border Direct Mail Service to Reach Mainland Visitors to Hong Kong
Get Your Message Across and Benefit from Exciting New Business Opportunities

Extension of Individual Visit Scheme Offers Boundless Business Opportunities

Since the implementation of Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) and Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), Mainland China has become a key visitor source market for Hong Kong. In 2009, there were a total of 17.69 million visits from Mainland China, accounting for 61% of the total visitor arrivals. It is worth noting that the number of visitors from Guangdong Province has been increasing every year, which generates considerable revenue for our tourism industry in the areas of catering, retail, recreation and entertainment as well as other related services.

Last year, Mainland authorities further implemented two measures under IVS. First, starting from 1 April 2009, eligible residents of Shenzhen may apply for one-year Individual Visit endorsement for multiple visits to Hong Kong. Second, with effect from 15 December 2009, non-Guangdong residents ordinarily residing in Shenzhen may apply for Individual Visit endorsement in Shenzhen. Local industries and sectors expect that the second measure will facilitate the travel of over 2 million Shenzhen non-permanent residents to Hong Kong and will bring in an additional 500,000 to 600,000 visitors within a year. As many of them are first-time travellers to the city, their average per capita spending could be higher than that of the Shenzhen permanent residents who make frequent trips. Based on the average per capita spending of $5,500, some $3 billion dollars of economic benefit will be created. Want to grab a share in this enormous market? Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service is certainly an effective way to help with your promotion efforts.

Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service - A Low Cost, High Return Marketing Tool to Target Customers in Guangdong

With Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service jointly launched by Hongkong Post and China Post in 2008, operators in different economic sectors (e.g. catering, retail, hotel, advertising consultancy, education, commercial and property development industries) can take advantage of the complete portfolio of direct mail solutions, including mailing list selection and rental, printing, delivery and reporting etc. to drive effective promotional campaigns.

Mainland visitors to Hong Kong are big spenders, representing tremendous business opportunities for local SMEs. To fast-track the promotion of products and services to target customers in the Mainland and to succeed in the highly competitive market, it would be wise for local SMEs to use Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service. This new cross-border marketing channel helps deliver your promotional leaflets to potential customers in Shenzhen and Dongguang, thereby increasing your visibility in the Mainland and opening the door to new business opportunities.

Case Sharing

In Hong Kong, many operators in catering and retail businesses make use of Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service to send out promotional materials such as product and service information, discount coupons or lucky draw invitations to target customers in Shenzhen and Dongguang. Last year, a middle-sized high-end shopping arcade conducted a publicity campaign by distributing specially designed promotional leaflets with discount coupons via the Service. In the end, it proved to be a success in attracting Mainland visitors. So this year, the shopping arcade will probably use the Service again during “golden holiday periods” in a bid to boost marketing efforts and fuel sales growth.

Advantages of Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service

Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service offers one-stop professional direct mail solutions from mailing list selection and rental to printing, delivery and reporting at a reasonable price. SMEs can set their own mailing list selection criteria having regard to business nature and marketing strategies, and Hongkong Post will help them select the appropriate customer segments for direct mail campaigns with the aid of the mailing list database maintained by China Post. This well-segmented database consists of personal particulars of over 1.3 million Shenzhen residents and 2 million Dongguan residents as well as information of 0.3 million enterprises in Shenzhen and 0.16 million enterprises in Dongguan to allow precise targeting of individual and enterprise customer segments. Thus, SMEs can build up an effective direct mail network for speedy delivery of promotional messages and vast increase of brand awareness in Guangdong Province. Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service currently covers Shenzhen and Dongguan, and will expand to other major cities in Guangdong Province.

For more details about Hong Kong-Guangdong Direct Mail Service, please visit Hongkong Post website at http://www.hongkongpost.com/dm/eng/postal/newservices.htm or call our hotline on 2921 2277.

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