Hong Kong’s authorities is to begin handing out U.S.$272 million value of free airplane tickets in a bid to spice up customer numbers, as town seeks to kickstart financial development following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions by Beijing.
Airport Authority chief government officer Fred Lam mentioned the federal government will distribute greater than half 1,000,000 free tickets through town’s personal airways to encourage tourism within the wake of the top of the pandemic measures.
“There are more than 600,000 air tickets, which is quite a number, so we hope to distribute them in an orderly manner,” Lam mentioned.
He mentioned the federal government would distribute the tickets through airways in tranches starting with the primary 80,000 tickets on March 1. The tickets might be handed out by Cathay Pacific, HK Categorical and Hong Kong Airways, he added.
The transfer is a part of a U.S.$2 billion scheme aimed toward wooing guests again to Hong Kong, which officers say was the world’s most-visited metropolis earlier than the pandemic emerged in late 2019, and earlier than the stringent restrictions of Beijing’s zero-COVID coverage dealt the business a dying blow.
“We hope that distribution will be completed within six months or so, because … we feel Hong Kong’s aviation industry will need the most help over the next six to nine months,” Lam mentioned on the launch of the “Hello, Hong Kong” scheme.
“We will start from Southeast Asia, and gradually expand to other regions,” Lam mentioned, including that the ticket releases could be coordinated with the Tourism Board’s personal promotions.
The “Hello, Hong Kong” marketing campaign can even embrace invites to round 1,000 world VIPs and journalists, monetary secretary Paul Chan advised a information convention on Thursday.
Greater than 1,000,000 vouchers providing reductions on meals, drinks, transport, inns, retail and points of interest can even be handed out at border checkpoints with mainland China, whereas town will host 250 main festivals and occasions this 12 months, together with the Rugby Sevens, the Hong Kong Marathon and the Clockenflap music competition, officers mentioned.
‘A lot of catching up to do’
Hong Kong obtained 56 million guests in 2019, greater than seven occasions its personal inhabitants. However its financial development charge has plummeted within the wake of the zero-COVID restrictions, which have been lifted by decree from Beijing in early December.
“Why are things so bad? Because the city has been under restrictions for too long,” Chinese language College of Hong Kong Enterprise Faculty researcher Lee Siu Po advised Radio Free Asia.
“Japan opened its doors last October, and Taiwan too. Only Hong Kong didn’t open up,” Lee mentioned. “They have to use such methods because they have a lot of catching up to do.”
“It may be a bit unusual, but maybe they didn’t expect such a big policy change [from Beijing], so suddenly,” he mentioned.
The dearth of vacationer numbers additionally comes amid an ongoing exodus of highly trained professionals and white-collar employees who’re fleeing a citywide crackdown on political dissent below a draconian nationwide safety regulation imposed by Beijing from July 2020.
Hong Kong plummeted eight positions within the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index 2022, to 88th place.
“Hong Kong’s position in the Democracy Index has continued to worsen for a number of reasons,” the EIU mentioned in a report explaining the index. “The quality of the territory’s renowned civil service was undermined by an exodus of experienced staff in 2022 in response to the deteriorating political situation and the shrinking space of freedom.”
It mentioned the enforcement of the nationwide safety regulation had made it more and more troublesome to arrange unbiased commerce unions within the metropolis, leading to a downgrade within the related indicator within the Democracy Index.
“These setbacks come on top of the erosion of media and academic freedoms that has occurred in recent years,” the report mentioned.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
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