Hong Kong brings in good news for tourists! The Pearl of the Orient, is giving away 500,000 airline tickets, worth HK$2bn ($254.8m; £224.3m), in order to boost the Covid-hit tourism industry. Hong Kong had some of the world’s toughest rules during the pandemic as it followed China’s zero Covid policies. However, Hong Kong’s government on September decided that people arriving in the city would no longer require to go into hotel quarantine or show a negative Covid test before boarding flights to the city. Read on to know more about their latest decision of giving 5,00,000 free air tickets to boost tourism.
Hong Kong Tourism Board On The 5,00,000 Free Air Tickets
According to reports, the executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Dane Cheng, recently revealed that the airport authority will finalise the arrangement with airline companies.
“Once the government announces it will remove all Covid-19 restrictions for inbound travellers, we’ll roll out the advertising campaigns for the free air tickets,” adds Mr. Cheng.
He further said that the free tickets, which were bought to support Hong Kong airlines during the pandemic, will be distributed next year to inbound and outbound travellers by the city’s airport authority.
Also read: Bhutan Has Re-Opened Its Borders For Tourism. Everything You Need To Know
Free Air tickets Will Help Restore Hong Kong’s Popularity As A Favoured Tourist Destination
According to Prudence Lai, Senior Analyst at Market Research Firm Euromonitor International, the offer of free air tickets will help restore Hong Kong’s popularity as a travel destination.
Talking to BBB, she says, “The pre-Covid status of Hong Kong represents the market potential of a full recovery. However, this is highly dependent on when mainland Chinese tourists will return, as mainland China contributes to more than half of Hong Kong’s inbound arrivals and travel receipts.”
The city is reported to have 184,000 visitors in the first eight months of 2022. This is way less in tourist numbers compared to before the pandemic – 56m people visited the city in 2019 as a whole.
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