Hongkong International Terminals (HIT) 50th Anniversary

The maritime industry has always been the backbone of Hong Kong’s city development. At the forefront of this important industry is Hongkong International Terminals Ltd (HIT), which has been offering world-class container handling facilities to facilitate Hong Kong’s growth since its inception in 1969. HIT has been growing with the Hong Kong society at large, and the port truly shaped its immediate surroundings — the township of Kwai Chung. The container port brought about the district’s transformation, from a rural backwater into today’s industrial and transportation hub.

On the occasion of HIT’s 50th Anniversary, we had the honour to work with HIT to let both the public and the company’s stakeholders understand the evolving relevance of our port. Our challenge was to highlight the importance of the container terminal industry to Hong Kong’s economy while emphasizing the close identity between the port and its local community.

The result is a 3-hour guided tour led by certified guides that enabled participants to experience day-to-day operations and Hutchison Ports’ global footprints. It is not just another port visit — one of the tour’s purposes is to highlight the close connection between the port and its community. For that reason we engaged a number of organizations — Kung Yung Koon, Mariners’ Club and the Hong Kong Housing Society — and enriched the tour narrative by including their stories and anecdotes. The solid historical research behind was also a defining characteristic of this one-of-a-kind port community tour. Support was also secured from the Transport and Housing Bureau as we included the tour as part of the Hong Kong Maritime Week 2019 programme.

The tour was well-received by the general public. On top of the 4 tours originally scheduled, 4 additional tours were conducted and 5 times oversubscription was recorded.