Over Ten Thousand International Delegates Gather in Hong Kong Confirming City’s Status as World’s Meeting Place
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 4 July 2026 – The Hong Kong Tourism Board is proud to support the 108th Lions International Convention 2026 in Hong Kong. Having previously hosted the convention in 1992 and 2005, Hong Kong has once again been chosen by Lions Clubs International as the venue for its flagship event, attracting around 17,000 delegates from across the globe. Hong Kong has thus become one of the very few cities among more than 200 Lions member countries and regions worldwide to have secured hosting rights three times. This underscores Hong Kong’s status and appeal as the Events Capital of Asia and the World’s Meeting Place.

Hosting Same High-Profile Event for the Third Time Cements Hong Kong’s Title as Asia’s World City

HKTB Chairman Dr Peter Lam said, “HKTB is delighted to partner with the Lions Clubs International District 303 Hong Kong and Macao, China, to bring this Convention to Hong Kong for the third time. Its return affirms Hong Kong’s position as the World’s Meeting Place and a top-of-mind destination for MICE tourism. It also showcases Hong Kong’s integrated strengths in world-class MICE infrastructure, global aviation connectivity, diverse and distinctive tourism offerings, and quality hospitality services. These are the key factors in attracting international MICE events and encouraging business travellers to return time and again. We extend our warmest welcome to Lions from around the world and, together with our industry partners, have curated exclusive itineraries and experiences to encourage delegates to stay longer and discover the unique appeal that can be found only in Hong Kong.”

Lions Clubs International is one of the world’s largest service organisations, with more than 1.4 million members and around 50,000 district clubs across over 200 countries and regions. Since 1917, the organisation has supported communities worldwide through a wide range of social service and community aid initiatives.

Lions International Convention 2026 Honorary Chairman and Past International President Dr Tam Wing-kun said, “Hong Kong is an international metropolis where Eastern and Western cultures converge. With its well-developed professional services and comprehensive MICE infrastructure, Hong Kong is an ideal host for this international mega event. I am delighted that the Convention has returned to Hong Kong. This year’s edition will provide Lions from all corners of the world with a broad and diverse platform to explore the future development of international services. Delegates will also be able to experience first-hand Hong Kong’s world-class cuisine and rich cultural appeal. I am confident they will be the best ambassadors possible when they return home, telling the good stories of Hong Kong to the world.”

Lions Attempt Tai Chai World Record in Hong Kong
The 108th Lions International Convention is being held for five consecutive days from 3 to 7 July at AsiaWorld-Expo. To celebrate its return to Hong Kong and promote traditional Chinese culture, the organiser will attempt to set a world record with thousands of international Lions practising Tai Chi simultaneously. The activity aims to promote exercise for all and deepen participants’ understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals, creating a meaningful finale to the convention.

HKTB Teams Up with the Trade to Offer Unforgettable Cultural Tourism Experiences
As a supporting organisation of the 108th Lions International Convention, HKTB has teamed up with the local travel trade and major attractions to curate a series of exclusive tourism itineraries and offerings for convention delegates. These include transport offers, attraction tickets and shopping mall discounts, gift redemptions, and theme park deals to encourage delegates to stay in Hong Kong after the convention and explore more of the city’s diverse culture, cuisine, and unique tourism appeal.
HKTB will continue to bring more influential large-scale international MICE events to Hong Kong, further strengthening the city’s competitiveness and appeal as world-class, top-of-mind destination for both business and leisure tourism.

XI’AN, CHINA – Media OutReach Newswire – 29 June 2026 – The world’s first commercial multimodal large language model (LLM) for cultural tourism, called BoGuan, has entered broad application in Xi’an, China. This model generates commercial returns by supporting the creation of digital IP for intangible cultural heritage, the development of cultural tourism applications, and the improvement of short drama production. This is injecting new momentum into both China’s heritage preservation initiatives and the cultural tourism industry.

Xi’an is one of China’s oldest cities and one of its most popular international tourist destinations. Shaanxi Culture Industry Investment Group (SCG) is working with partners like Huawei, China Telecom Shaanxi, and China West Airport Group (CWAG) to promote cultural tourism using digital technologies including AI and 5G-A.For example, BoGuan is used to support a new AI travel companion agent that had been made available to over 4 million users by March of this year.

In September 2025, SCG and Huawei unveiled the BoGuan Large Model, the world’s first commercial multimodal LLM for cultural tourism. It is also China’s first industry-specific model dedicated to the preservation of cultural heritage. This model is built on intelligent computing infrastructure and a high-quality dataset. The dataset has over 1.2 PB of data, including 31 million images, 4.4 million minutes of video footage, 2.18 million minutes of audio recordings, 510 3D models, and 960 million pieces of structured text.

BoGuan can generate highly-accurate multimodal content, such as museum-quality content about cultural relics. This allows it to support the creation of new digital relic presentations, the digitalization and preservation of traditional craftsmanship, and the creation of digital IP for intangible cultural heritage. Zhang Beiyuan, a dough sculpture artisan, said, “With this model, I can complete a dough sculpture that used to take two or three months in less than a week.” BoGuan is also used to create digital IP like the popular cartoon character Tang Biaobiao, which is designed by integrating local cultural heritage elements with the stone carvings of the Six Steeds of Zhao Mausoleum. The sales of related digital collectibles and creative products have exceeded CNY2 million.

In addition to supporting cultural heritage preservation, BoGuan has been used to develop a range of cultural tourism apps, such as AI photography and AI travel companion agent. Visitors can directly talk with this agent on the GO-SHAANXI app to create and adjust travel itineraries and get real-time performance recommendations at attractions. The Zhiying Camera mini program provides paid services that instantly integrate user photos with AI-generated scenes from history, allowing visitors to “travel back to ancient times.” These new consumption options unlock the business value of quality cultural tourism data. Furthermore, SCG is using BoGuan to integrate short drama production with cultural tourism and improve production efficiency and quality in Xi’an, a renowned short drama hub.

Additionally, China Telecom Shaanxi and Huawei have deployed a 5G-A network based on three component carrier aggregation (3CC) technology at Xi’an’s Grand Tang Mall, a popular tourist attraction. The network delivers peak uplink and downlink rates of 600 Mbps and 3.5 Gbps, respectively, about 10 times faster than common 5G networks. During the 2026 May Day holiday, this network supported concurrent access for 23,000 users, guaranteeing smooth video watching and social media experiences. Furthermore, 5G-A-powered HD live streaming at the Grand Tang Mall has become an important way for the attraction to bring in new visitors. According to public data, the average user dwell time of these live streams has nearly doubled and the average transaction value has increased by 62%.

Edric Chu, General Manager of Huawei’s Shaanxi Rep Office, said, “Artificial intelligence is not simply a stack of technologies. It has become a key enabler that can activate thousands of years of cultural heritage, reshape travel experiences, and inject new momentum into the industry. Moving forward, Huawei will continue working with our partners to enhance cultural heritage preservation with digital and intelligent technologies, and stimulate development within the cultural tourism industry.”

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 18 June 2026 – On June 16, the 2026 Hainan Cultural and Tourism Promotion Events, under the theme of “Sunny Hainan · Heart’s Desire,” were held in Hong Kong. Leaders from Hong Kong’s cultural and tourism authorities, heads of industry associations, and representatives of key cultural and tourism enterprises from home and abroad gathered to explore new opportunities for cooperation and draw up a blueprint for the industry’s future.

Liu Xiaoming, Governor of the People’s Government of Hainan Province, and Cheuk Wing-hing, Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, attended the events and delivered speeches. During the promotional session, Chen Tiejun, Director of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports of Hainan Province, unveiled the “Top Ten Calling Cards of Hainan Tourism,” which received enthusiastic responses and positive feedback from various sectors in Hong Kong. Attendees from Hong Kong unanimously agreed that Hong Kong and Hainan boast highly complementary cultural and tourism resources and immense potential for cooperation.

Since the launch of special customs operations of the Hainan Free Trade Port, its distinctive opening-up advantages, such as “zero tariffs, low tax rates, a simplified tax system” and “tariff exemption for value-added processing,” have become increasingly prominent. These policies have continuously made Hainan more attractive to businesses and opened up broader opportunities for Hong Kong investors and entrepreneurs.

On the same day, at the “Invest in the Free Trade Port, Share New Opportunities” Symposium for Hong Kong Enterprises held in Hong Kong, four cooperation agreements were formally signed, covering high-end commerce, cultural and tourism integration, and regional industrial coordination. Hong Kong business representatives expressed strong interest in deepening their presence in Hainan.

Hainan and Hong Kong share a long history of cooperation, and in recent years, a steady stream of favorable policies has been introduced. Since the signing of the Hainan-Hong Kong Memorandum of Cooperation in March 2025, bilateral cooperation has accelerated across the board. In 2025, goods trade between the two sides reached RMB 9.35 billion, increasing by more than two times from 2020. A total of 793 new Hong Kong-funded enterprises were established in Hainan, a year-on-year increase of 21.5%. Hainan has also issued offshore RMB bonds in Hong Kong for four consecutive years, with a cumulative total of RMB 18 billion. Currently, an average of four direct flights operate daily between Hong Kong and Hainan, with the fastest travel time under two hours, facilitating the rapid emergence of the “Hainan-Hong Kong Living Circle.”