Planning a cheap trip? It will cost you
Bargain tour packages will set you back more but price of high-end trips has come down
Hongkongers planning to go on bargain holidays during Lunar New Year will need to fork out an average 9 per cent more than they did last year.
Despite the higher travel cost, the Travel Industry Council is still expecting 5 per cent growth in outbound travel next month.
The council's director, Joseph Tung Yao-chung, said that Singapore, Phuket and Korea are still the most popular destinations for bargain travellers and prices to these places have gone up the most. A four-day tour to Singapore costs HK$6,589, up 29 per cent. The price of a five-day tour to Phuket has climbed 28 per cent to HK$5,999, while a five-day tour to South Korea will cost 25 per cent more at HK$5,499.
"We're optimistic about the business performance of outbound travel during the Lunar New Year. We're expecting growth of 5 per cent," Tung said yesterday.
The council collected HK$1.5 million in levies during the Lunar New Year month of January last year. That will mean Hongkongers spent HK$1 billion on tours that month as all travellers have to pay 0.15 per cent of the tour price as a levy.
Despite tours being more expensive during the festive holidays, Tung believes there will still be growth because fewer people travelled during Christmas and this means they will travel more in the Lunar New Year.