‘Welcome Hong Kong’ launches with no cost flights

Hong Kong –

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Hong Kong will give absent air tickets and vouchers to woo holidaymakers again to the intercontinental money hub, racing to catch up with other well-liked journey locations in a fierce regional opposition.

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In the course of the pandemic, the town largely aligned alone with mainland China’s “zero-COVID” approach and has peaceful its entry guidelines months slower than rivals this sort of as Singapore, Japan and Taiwan. Even just after it reopened its border with mainland China in January, tourism restoration was sluggish.

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On Thursday, Chief Executive John Lee introduced a tourism marketing campaign “Good day Hong Kong,” declaring the metropolis will give 500,000 no cost air tickets to welcome vacationers from around the planet in what he called “possibly the world’s major welcome at any time”.

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“Hong Kong is now seamlessly connected to the mainland of China and the full intercontinental environment and there will be no isolation, no quarantine,” he explained at a ceremony. “This is the ideal timing for travellers, small business travellers, and traders from near and significantly to occur and say, `Hello, Hong Kong.”‘

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Less than the campaign, most of the airplane tickets — worth 2 billion Hong Kong bucks ($255 million) — will occur from three Hong Kong-based mostly airways by several promotional routines, together with blessed attracts, “purchase a person, get just one free of charge” promotions and game titles. The job will get started in March and past about six months, reported Fred Lam, CEO of the Airport Authority.

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“We hope people who safe the air tickets can carry two or three a lot more kin and pals to the metropolis. Though we are just supplying away 500,000 air tickets, we consider this can assist deliver Hong Kong in excess of 1.5 million readers,” Lam said.

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The airways will distribute the tickets in phases, with the Southeast Asian markets set to benefit in the very first phase, he claimed.

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An supplemental 80,000 air tickets will be specified absent to Hong Kong citizens in the summer time, Lam mentioned. Those dwelling in the Bigger Bay Location will also profit from the policy that gives about 700,000 tickets in total. The Better Bay Place is a Chinese government initiative to url Hong Kong with neighbouring mainland metropolitan areas, which include the know-how and finance hub of Shenzhen and the manufacturing powerhouses of Dongguan and Foshan.

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Site visitors can also enjoy unique provides and vouchers amongst other incentives in the metropolis, Lee reported.

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Hong Kong been given 56 million guests in 2019 — above seven instances its populace — just before the pandemic began. But its demanding COVID-19 constraints have been maintaining readers away above the past three years, devastating the tourism sector and its financial state. The city’s GDP last 12 months fell 3.5 % from 2021, according to the government’s provisional data.

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In the previous few months, it at last dropped its mandatory hotel quarantine rule and PCR exams for incoming travellers, resulting in a slight improve in arrival figures. Still, its 2022 customer numbers had been just 1% of the 2019 degree.