Page 111 - AJMAN TOURISM PR REPORT - December 2024 FLIP

12/4/24, 10:21 AM Travel Unpacked: Aleppo airport shuts and Ajman invites Scandinavian tourists | The National

Thousands of giant panda sculptures will greet residents and tourists in Hong Kong as they pop up in
different spots across the city, such as the airport and tourist hubs, including the Avenue of Stars in the

Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district.

The displays reflect Hong Kong’s use of pandas to boost its economy as the Chinese financial hub works

to regain its position as one of Asia’s top tourism destinations. Enthusiasm for the bear has grown

recently in Hong Kong, after two cubs were born in a local theme park.

Pandas are considered China’s unofficial national mascot, and the country has a current panda loan

programme with overseas zoos, which it uses as a tool of soft-power diplomacy.

Hong Kong officials are hoping to boost visitor numbers with its panda residency. One designated spot
for the sculptures is Ocean Park, home to twin cubs An An and Ke Ke, whose mother, Ying Ying, is the

world's oldest first-time panda mom and a gift from Beijing.

With the addition of the twin cubs, it now houses six pandas, and officials have encouraged businesses to
capitalise on the bears' popularity to seize opportunities in what some lawmakers have dubbed the “panda
economy".

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