Due to the fickleness of travel restrictions and lockdown rules of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong Kong Tourism Board, announced on 19th of August 2020, that its annual signature event, “Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival” will be held virtually this year.
The chairman of Hong Kong Tourism Board, Dr YK Pang said: “The Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival has been one of the most popular events among locals and tourists alike since its inception over a decade ago. Despite the COVID-19 outbreak this year, we hope people can continue to enjoy Hong Kong’s unique dining culture while providing business opportunities for the local F&B sector amidst this challenging economic climate. Organising the festival virtually allows us to achieve both objectives without compromising public health and safety.”
The festival programs will take place this year on an online hub built by HKTB. The hub is aimed at preserving as much original flavour of the physical event as possible. Participants will be able to browse and purchase a variety of wines from wine merchants on specially discounted prices at the festival, in this virtual exhibition space. Many renowned wine and food critics, chefs and wine experts will also be invited to speak on wine-pairing and culinary topics in virtual workshops and classes.
The Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival was launched in 2009 after Hong Kong and Bordeaux signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Co-operation in Wine-related business. The festival became widely popular and came to be known as one of the world’s top 10 international food and wine festivals by Forbes Traveler.