Greater Bay Area: Hong Kong’s stricken tourism industry cannot wait for mainland visitors to return, but will they come back?
- With global travel shaken by coronavirus, mainland China is main hope of reviving city’s tourism
- Hong Kong’s new Covid-19 infections get in the way of reopening border with Guangdong
As Hong Kong tries to reboot its economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, can the Greater Bay Area provide opportunities that are ripe for the taking? In the final of a three-part series ahead of the city leader’s policy address, Denise Tsang and Kathleen Magramo look at how mainland visitors could revive the battered tourism industry. Read the first and second part of the series here.
Ngong Ping 360 has been a sad sight for most of this year. Its famous cable cars have been mostly empty going up the slopes of Lantau Island, taking few visitors to the giant Buddha statue at the top.
The attraction’s managing director, Andy Lau, said half in jest there had been days when only falling leaves and his 300 staff had shown up.
“Without [travel health codes] in place, the Greater Bay Area is just talk for now, and the tourism industry cannot move forward
Lau is counting on mainland visitors returning, and Ngong Ping 360 has made sure to maintain its presence on popular mainland social media such as TikTok and Xiaohongshu.