Hong Kong saw fewer flights on Good Friday amid the financial crisis, but travel agents said outbound travel was set to remain strong during Easter because of cheaper airfares and hotel rooms.
The Civil Aviation Department said 918 flights were scheduled to arrive and depart the city yesterday, 41 fewer than on Good Friday last year.
But Ng Hi-on, deputy general manager at China Travel Service's package tour department, said the number of people on CTS Easter package tours was the same as last year, despite the economic turmoil.
'It's because tour prices have dropped,' Mr Ng said. 'For example, a tour to Wuyishan cost around HK$3,000 per person in the past but it's only HK$2,300 now, as airlines now charge less compared to last Easter while fuel surcharges have also gone down.'
About 70 per cent of his company's tours are to the mainland, Southeast Asia and Taiwan.
Steve Huen Kwok-chuen, managing director of EGL Tours, which has 300 tour groups flying out over the Easter break, said travel was 5 per cent to 10 per cent cheaper now than a year ago thanks to a strengthening in the value of the Hong Kong dollar and cheaper flights and hotel rooms.