Tourism opportunity for Hawaii? The Father of Modern China Dr, Sun Yat-sen

The Father of Modern China Dr, Sun Yat-sen was educated at Iolani and Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii before returning to Hong Kong to complete his medical degree at the University of Hong Kong.

He has founded the Republic of China in 1911. China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and throughout Asia are celebration the 100th anniversary.

Hong Kong is taking full advantage of it promoting Dr. Sun Yat-sen on his ties with Hong Kong and Chungshan China.

Hawaii could take advantage of similar ties like Hong Kong for his ties here and the majority of Chinese immigrants were also from Chungshan, the hometown of Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

A delegation of more than 400 people from around the world visited Hawaii a month ago to celebrate Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Republic sponsored by the Taiwan Government. Few people locally has taken notice including the local English media.

Are we (Hawaii) taking advantage of it? If not, why not?

As high-rolling Hainan province tempts tourists with tax-free shopping, Hong Kong has gone highbrow in the battle for visitors by offering a Dr Sun Yat-sen tour.

As part of this year’s celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the 1911 revolution, the Tourism Board is touting themed tours retracing the steps of the founding father of modern China for the upcoming “golden week” national holiday.

Sun described Hong Kong as his “intellectual birthplace”.

Tourists can choose between stops including the Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail, Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum in Central and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park in Sheung Wan.

Or they can enjoy the exhibition “Centenary of China’s 1911 Revolution” at the Museum of History in Tsim Sha Tsui before enjoying a night’s stay on a Star Cruises(SEHK: 0678) ship.
Some 300,000 promotional text messages will be sent to mobile phone users in southern China.

The board expects an increase of up to 15 per cent in mainland visitors for the May 1 to 3 holiday. About 80,000 people are expected to visit each day, Tourism Board executive director Anthony Lau Chun-hon said. This year so far, visitor numbers have increased by 14 per cent to 11.3 million. The number of mainland visitors rose 19 per cent to 7.3 million.

The Chinese Hainan province started a pilot tax-rebate program yesterday, attracting over 15,000 customers to Sanya’s only tax-free store. However, Lau said it was unlikely to have a big impact on Hong Kong.

“Hainan appeals to mainland tourists as they don’t need any permits to go there. However, the range of products in the tax-free store is limited,” Lau said.

The Hainan brand name is becoming the world Aloha. Hawaii themes are visible in Hainan everywhere.

The fall in the number of Japanese visitors since the earthquake in the country has also started to diminish, Lau said, as business travelers stuck to their plans.

It was too early to say whether Hong Kong would pick up visitors from elsewhere who had planned to go to Japan, Lau said.