So what does “Old Town Central" in Hong Kong mean?

29 Jul

The Hong Kong Tourism Board is inventing new places

Learn more | Visit the excellent Hong Kong Tourism Board Website today

Me Jamie, English and 52 years living in Hong Kong and I know the know the place - I personally completed 2,324 Private Tours (6,000+ guests) from 2011 - 2020 and was considered one of the finest Private Tour Guides in Asia.

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The old Central Police Station on Hollywood Road in Central, Hong Kong

So what on earth does "Old Town Central" mean in Hong Kong and who actually coined the phrase, yes, that would be the Hong Kong Tourism Board!

Another terrible cliche from the world of tourism in Hong Kong

To be mocked alongside “hidden gems” and “secret spots”

Let me be clear, I am not a journalist, I have no particular talent in writing but I do try and get my message across in plain English and for some reason the Travel and Tourism Trade is full of copy writers throwing around horrible cliches like confetti at a wedding.

Social Media has significantly transformed the way travellers discover new places, leading to an overuse of terms like "hidden gems" + "secret spots” + hidden spots” and such. This trend seems to have been overlooked by numerous tour companies in Hong Kong and worldwide, the fact remains that in every city in the world residents know all the places to visit and honestly Social Media has rendered these terms meaningless.

Nothing in Hong Kong is hidden or secret, not anymore, I get roughly 20 messages every day from online magazines offering up a list of the best 50 hidden gems in Hong Kong and that coupled with daft name changes (Central to Old Town Central) create a lot of confusion.

It also never occurs to any Travel and Tourism writer or the HK Tourism Board for that matter that the vast majority of visitors have perhaps 8 hours to see Hong Kong and that is why you need a great Private Tour Guide to show you around Hong Kong based on the interests of the guest and personally I have never seen the logic of spending 2 hours travel time to visit a hidden gem that appears on a list for an Instagram Moment, if you are spending 10 days in Hong Kong then fine, but not if you are here for 24 hours.

Hong Kong covers roughly 430sq miles, that is an awful lot of ground to cover in 8 hours! (ps I do not do emoji’s sorry, I hope you get my meaning)

For a long time now I have been wanting to add Old Town Central to the list of cliches, this term was introduced into the World of Tourism by the Hong Kong Tourism Board in April 2017, apparently a Private Tour Company collaborated with the Tourism Board to push this name change and when you visit their website you can see why they pushed for the name change.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board is the public face of Tourism in Hong Kong and is a Government Organisation and works with other Government Departments who for some reason are also heavily involved in Tourism, the phrase “too many cooks spoil the broth” is very apt.

I have always felt that the Tourism Board should have 100% control over all things Tourism in Hong Kong and that they should work closely with private tour companies (the ones without a hidden agenda) rather than do things on a whim because a high ranking Government Official has issued an edict.

.. and this has never been so important as right now as Hong Kong slowly recovers from being decimated for 3 years by the Covid Pandemic.

Learn more | Old Town Central invented by the Hong Kong Tourism Board in April 2017

… I need to get back on track

If you click on the link above the Hong Kong Tourism Board describes in great detail “Old Town Central” so I will not replicate what has been written suffice to say that there was absolutely no need at all to modify the word Central and lengthen it to “Old Town Central”

Central has been in use since 1841 or thereabouts and everyone that lives in Hong Kong knows exactly what Central means, basically it is the business district and the cultural beating heart of Hong Kong.

Basically, Old Town Central covers the area in and around Hollywood Road, a very long and old road going from Central District to Sheung Wan and is the 2nd oldest road in Hong Kong.

It just seems silly to rebrand the District for no good reason, you could just as easily add the moniker “Old Town” too any part of Hong Kong ie Old Town TST, Old Town Sheung Wan, Old Town Western… you get the drift.

Hong Kong is a truly amazing city and I just think it is plain wrong to add snappy Instagram friendly slogans to places in Hong Kong, it creates a lot of confusion and there is simply no good reason to do this and it demeans the complicated and amazing history of Hong Kong.

The Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road

The Government loves people to go to this Temple which is conveniently in “Old Town Central” in other words it is on Hollywood Road. The Temple is very old and quaint and I always, always avoided it, to me there are much better Temples that delve into the Hong Kong psyche, this place is the worst sort of tourist trap and a lot of guides go here simply because it is in a convenient location, something I always avoided, it is just wrong.

One of the reasons I think the Tourism Board went with this rebranding is that they have had up until very recently a very tunnel vision view of how visitors | tourists coming to Hong Kong should be treated, their policy for as long as I can remember was to ensure all tourists saw Hong Kong on a 30 | 50 seater coach with a woefully inadequate tour guide (tourist guide in Hong Kong!) working from a prepared script for a 5 - 8 hour “tour” of Hong Kong which naturally included a visit to a jewellery factory (owned by the Tour Company) under the guise of it being a cultural experience! …. at some of the stops on the tour the tourists have to wear hats and stickers and are shown around by a guide waving a large flag so no one will get lost.

For me anyway the ignominy that happens at Victoria Peak is unmatched and has been a process ongoing for over 50 years. when you get off the coach to see the amazing views of Hong Kong you are accosted by a photographer working for the Tour Company, he takes your photo and a short while later you are presented with plates, mugs and keychains resplendent with your image on them and you are “forced” to purchase them.

I am constantly amazed that in 2024 that this practice is still alive and kicking.

I am a pioneer of Private Tours of Hong Kong and along with a core group of 12+ other dedicated like minded individuals we have changed the way that visitors or guests are shown around Hong Kong and 14 years after the Private Tour Market was formed only now does the Hong Kong Tourism Board recognise that this is actually the way they want Tourism to function in Hong Kong… 14 years!

Old Town Central - bah humbug!

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This unique experience offers an authentic insight into the real Hong Kong, providing a deeper understanding of the city's culture, history, and local way of life.

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