Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Saturday night launched the city's largest shopping promotion -- 2005 Hong Kong Shopping Festival.

With the highest number of participating organizations, great support from markets in creating special packages and extensive overseas media exposure for the "Shopper of the Year' contest, the two-month long festival promises the best of the world's shopping experience for visitors and local residents, the HKTB claimed.

This year, the festival has already set a number of new records. Over 6,800 retail and dining outlets have confirmed their participation. And the HKTB is confident that the final number is expected to reach beyond 7,000. 

Together with 29 major shopping malls and department stores, the festival promises a citywide festive ambiance.

HKTB Chairman Selina Chow said at the launching ceremony that the record number reflected the strong support for the festival among the retail and dining sectors.

"As shown by the encouraging figure this year, the festival has attracted not only the veterans' continued strong support, but also many new owners, demonstrating that this mega event offers a truly successful platform for promoting our tourism business."

To encourage more incentives to spend, the HKTB is once again organizing a lucky draw featuring 25 percent more fabulous prices than last year. Together they worth over 2.2 million HK dollars (US$280,051).