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The Hong Kong Tourism Board is encouraging arrivals by promising to give away half a million airplane tickets to global guests in a new campaign that kicks off on March 1.
Whilst Hong Kong’s borders reopened in mid-January, the return of vacationer arrivals has been sluggish. It was only in December that Hong Kong ended social distancing, obligatory proof of vaccination and tests needs for intercontinental guests soon after aligning by itself with mainland China’s zero-COVID approach during the pandemic.
Now, the tourism board hopes a new program, “Hello Hong Kong,” will entice visitors to return. About the up coming 6 months, Hong Kong chief govt John Lee said 500,000 free of charge round-vacation airline tickets will be up for grabs to travellers in what he identified as “probably the world’s most important welcome ever.”
All yr prolonged, functions and festivals – these as Art Basel and the Dragon Boat Pageant – will just take area, and readers will be suitable for savings on food items, drink, attraction admissions, lodging and transportation.
What are airlines having element in the promotion?
Cathay Pacific, HK Categorical, Larger Bay Airways and Hong Kong Airways are all collaborating in the marketing campaign, which will operate more than six months, with tickets launched in phases. The initial stage launches on March 1.
How can I get a absolutely free airline ticket to Hong Kong?
You can enter your name into the flight-ticket lottery on the Hong Kong Airport website, or register via the collaborating airlines’ web-sites. According to the tourism board, tickets will be awarded by way of a lottery program, or on a very first occur, first provide basis and invest in-a single-get-one particular-free purchases, so absolutely nothing is guaranteed. It really is the luck of the attract in most circumstances.
The first stage, launching on March 1, is open to inhabitants throughout Southeast Asia. From April 1, persons living in mainland China can apply, with the giveaway opening up to travelers in Europe, the United States and the relaxation of the planet on May well 1. It is worth registering as early as you can when the opposition opens in your portion of the entire world as a minimal variety of tickets are allotted to every single marketplace. Locals in Hong Kong can also get in on the motion when an additional 80,000 free outbound tickets get provided to them in July.
The campaign addresses airfare on round-excursion economic climate-class flights. It is significant to observe that if you earn, you will still have to pay back any associated surcharges, fees and taxes.
What reductions can I get?
Arriving tourists will obtain a welcome pack when they land in Hong Kong Airport that will give them discounts across 1500 points of interest and expert services in the town.
In a assertion, the Hong Kong Tourism Board stated that at minimum 1 million “Hong Kong Goodies” vouchers of price around HK$100 every single would be presented out to readers, masking a complimentary welcome consume at participating bars, restaurants and lodges, or a funds voucher that can be redeemed versus expenses for neighborhood transport, lodging and tourist points of interest.
You can obtain your welcome pack with vouchers from vacationer-information and facts desks in the arrival hall of Hong Kong Airport, as effectively as at the visitor desks at West Kowloon Significant-Pace Rail Station, Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Piers and the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge.
If I do go to Hong Kong, what functions should really I approach to see?
Hong Kong has prepared about 250 occasions and festivals to tie in with the tourism campaign. Highlights include the Hong Kong Wine & Dine Festival, the Hong Kong Open, the Dragon Boat Pageant and the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens.
When it will come to artwork, you can see the greatest retrospective of Yayoi Kusama’s get the job done in Asia (outside the house Japan) at the newly opened M+ museum (until finally September 2023). There is also Art Basel to glimpse forward to at the end of March. And in July, the Palace Museum will host an opening exhibition featuring 900 parts, some on financial loan from the Louvre in Paris and some others on screen for the initial time.
Will this campaign give tourism the boost it demands in Hong Kong?
Hong Kong experienced been struggling to draw in travelers even ahead of the pandemic began. In 2019, the metropolis was plunged into a economic downturn soon after a series of prevalent professional-democracy protests versus the mainland government’s raising regulate above civic lifestyle in Hong Kong brought the territory to a standstill.
Police cracked down, at times violently, and in 2020 China imposed a broad-ranging countrywide stability regulation that proficiently silenced demonstrations and minimal no cost speech. Hundreds of protestors, journalists and activists have been arrested, like minors – and a lot of site visitors stayed away as other international locations issued journey advisories for Hong Kong, encouraging visitors to physical exercise caution when scheduling a journey there. In convert, Hong Kong been given 10 million much less travelers in 2019 when compared to the former yr. When vacationer expenditure stalled, linked industries together with retail and hospitality took a battering—modest-enterprise house owners even took to social media to charm to people to pay a visit to their merchants.
Talking at a press convention soon after the launch of “Hello Hong Kong,” Chief Government John Lee claimed that Hong Kong is now completely ready to welcome vacationers once again. The city has taken off inbound travel limitations and the extensive-managing mask mandate will conclusion on March 1, though in accordance to the United kingdom Foreign Workplace, tourists really should be expecting “bigger scrutiny from mainland authorities at border crossings concerning the mainland and Hong Kong at this time”.
Whether or not the campaign will generate more than enough interest to provide tourism back to pre-2019 stages stays to be viewed.
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