Hong Kong is in the midst of pandamania as the city is trying to use the cute animals to lure back tourists.
The panda population in Hong Kong reached six after two new adult giant pandas were gifted to the special administrative region to mark the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. The pair, An An and Ke Ke, will meet the public for the first time next month.
At Hong Kong’s Ocean Park, the home to the pair of pandas, the excitement to see them is running high.
"We don't have pandas in the Philippines and it's one of the things we really want to see here in Ocean Park and especially here in Hong Kong," said a tourist.
"They are rare animals. You know that all pandas are belonging to China. It is interesting," another tourist said.
Last month, the Ocean Park held a vibrant celebration to mark the 100th day since the birth of the first panda twins in Hong Kong.
The new-born pair, a female and a male, are the offspring of Ying Ying and Le Le, giant pandas gifted by the central government to Hong Kong in 2007.
Officials in Hong Kong are hopeful that the pandas will help to boost tourism in Hong Kong, and have encouraged businesses to capitalize on the popularity of the new pandas to create a "panda economy".
Analysts said the key to driving the economy and bringing in more tourists is to offer something unique and different to other places.
"It might not be a game changer to fully change the challenges that Hong Kong is facing right now. And of course, having pandas can actually give businesses more ideas to cross sell, etc, but at the end of the day, it also depends on the quality of the products that they offer," said Gary Ng, a senior economist of Natixis Hong Kong.
Pandamania sweeps Hong Kong as city hopes to lure back tourists
