Who wants to visit Hong Kong under ‘0+3’? Not many people, travel agencies say as tour groups adopt wait-and-see approach
- City’s ‘0+3’ health measure remains off-putting to travellers, agents say
- Tour groups can visit attractions during first three days of health surveillance, with specific measures this month
Hong Kong is relaxing its Covid-19 rules for visitors in tour groups, but some major foreign travel agencies say the city’s ongoing restrictions remain off-putting.
A Post check with travel agencies that used to bring in Korean, Filipino, Thai and Singaporean visitors found none rushing to organise group tours, with most preferring to take a wait-and-see approach.
Under Hong Kong’s current “0+3” regime, all arrivals must monitor their health for three days, during which they are barred from entering restaurants, pubs, theme parks and museums. They must also be tested regularly for Covid-19.
But the government announced on Monday that visitors arriving in group tours with licensed guides would be allowed to enter designated tourist attractions during the three days of medical surveillance, with detailed measures to be launched this month.
They will also be allowed to eat together in partitioned areas at designated food establishments that meet anti-pandemic rules.
From next Thursday, all inbound travellers will be allowed to access premises that offer mask-on activities, such as theme parks, museums, exhibition halls, mahjong parlours, hair salons and places of worship. But areas where eating is allowed will still be off-limits to them.
The Travel Industry Council (TIC) of Hong Kong said it expected mainly smaller groups of 10 to 20 people to come from Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia.