Before the pandemic, Hong Kong was one of the top tourist destinations in the world. Attracting over 56 million visitors a year before Covid. Now Hong Kong wants to “sweeten the deal” for tourists to make their way back to Hong Kong after two years of travel restrictions placed by their government.
What you should know:
A few days ago Hong Kong dropped their mandatory hotel quarantine requirement, and now they plan to give away half a million airline tickets to boost tourism.
This plan has been in the works for the last couple of years as told to CNN. The Airport Authority of Hong Kong, which stated the tickets were valued at 254.8 million dollars, would like to pass along the tickets to global visitors and residents.
“Back in 2020, Airport Authority Hong Kong purchased around 500,000 air tickets in advance from the territory’s home-based airlines as part of a relief package to support the aviation industry,” says the spokesperson.
How it works:
“The purchase serves the purpose of injecting liquidity into the airlines upfront, while the tickets will be given away to global visitors and Hong Kong residents in the market recovery campaign.”
Since the pandemic started, Hong Kong has been under the radar, with tourists losing interest in visiting Hong Kong due to their 21 day quarantine. Travelers from outside countries needed to be quarantined for 21 days in their hotel rooms or airbnbs before going out to see the sights.
As covid cases began to drop around the globe the government has reduced their quarantine period from seven to three days, then to be completely taken away on September 26. News of the restrictions being lifted inspired residents to start booking airline tickets.
Requirements:
“We hope to give the maximum room to reconnect Hong Kong, and to revitalize our economy,” Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee.
Although some of the restrictions have been lifted, there’s still policies in place for travelers arriving in Hong Kong.
Travelers entering the country still need to show proof of vaccination as well as a negative PCR or Antigen test.
Once entering into the country, they must follow a three day self-monitoring period. During those three days you are not allowed to eat in restaurants or visit bars.
Travelers also have to take PCR tests every 2 days for 6 days and a rapid antigen each day for 7 days.