Hong Kong should form ‘travel bubbles’ with neighbours that have pandemic under control, tourism board chief says

Creating links with nations such as South Korea, Thailand and even mainland China could bring visitors back to city, according to Dane Cheng
Australia and New Zealand are already discussing such an arrangement, while Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have opened their borders to one another

Hong Kong travel bubbles

Denise Tsang

Published: 5:52pm, 22 May 2020

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Hong Kong should form “travel bubbles” with regional neighbours that have similar success in containing the coronavirus pandemic as a way to bring back visitors who stopped travelling due to the health crisis, the city’s tourism promotion body says.

Hong Kong Tourism Board chief executive Dane Cheng Ting-yat on Friday called on the government to pursue the creation of such links with short-haul markets such as Macau, South Korea, Thailand and even mainland China.

With arrivals falling nearly 100 per cent to 4,100 in April against the same period last year, the scheme could be a way to bring back travellers. “It is the right time to look at it,” Cheng said.

Now is the right time to consider travel bubbles, says Tourism Board chief executive Dane Cheng. Photo: May Tse

Nations such as Australia and New Zealand are already discussing forming a travel bubble. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have struck an arrangement allowing residents to travel freely without undergoing quarantine.

Hong Kong tourism all but collapses as arrivals drop 99 per cent

As part of a near-term strategy to revive tourism, Cheng said the board would introduce 11,000 enticements covering food, shopping, hotels and attractions, among others, from the middle of June in a campaign called “Hello Hong Kong”.

“If the promotions go well, we will extend it to overseas travellers in the next stage,” he said, adding the campaign could cost about HK$40 million (US$5.15 million).

01:09

Hong Kong announces fresh relief measures for transport and tourism sectors

Asked whether Beijing’s sudden proposal to enact a national security law in Hong Kong would worsen social unrest that began last year, Cheng said: “Overseas visitors’ major concern is still about the development and containment of the coronavirus pandemic. We need to deal with this first.”

A spokeswoman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said it was preparing to relaunch Hong Kong’s tourism sector after assessing the advice from health authorities, and working out quarantine, transportation and immigration arrangements with overseas markets.

Hong Kong recorded two new Covid-19 cases on Friday, both imported cases, taking the tally to 1,065.

The city on average recorded fewer than 100 arrivals a day in the first four months of this year compared with the roughly 200,000 during normal times. Global travel has ground to a halt, with more than 65 airlines cutting about 95 per cent of flights in April and May.

Cheng said it would take a longer time for Hong Kong tourism to recover as many long-haul flights were not expected to resume until the fourth quarter of this year.

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