Hong Kong will need to wait a little longer for influx of tourists from mainland China, industry leaders say
- City can expect uptick in visitors after Lunar New Year as many mainlanders prefer to see family first, lawmaker says
- Some travellers hope to come to Hong Kong to shop for medicine, take Covid-19 vaccine and watch films not slated to be shown on mainland
Mainland Chinese tourists will not return to Hong Kong for at least another month even though Beijing began issuing individual visas on Sunday, industry leaders have predicted.
The deputy director of the Guangdong Tourism Association, Zou Feng, on Wednesday said the central government had yet to internally notify travel agencies about resuming tours or offering hotel and flight packages to the city.
“Therefore, offering any Hong Kong-bound services or outbound ones for now is still a violation of the rules, and any related insurance coverage for the industry has not yet resumed,” he said. “But most workers who used to be with the travel sector are willing to join the industry again.”
He expected the endorsement documents would become available late next month or in early March.
Hong Kong and the mainland resumed quarantine-free travel on Sunday after three years of Covid-19 restrictions, but the number of people crossing the border in each direction every day is fewer than the 50,000 quota.
Hong Kong lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung, who represents the tourism sector, said he doubted many mainlanders would visit the city during the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on January 22.
“Most mainlanders will return to their hometowns to visit their families first for Lunar New Year,” he said. “Only after that will they start thinking about travelling for leisure. I expect there will be more independent travellers and group tours afterwards.”
Some middle-class Chinese families said that while they were once again interested in travelling to Hong Kong, they would wait until at least the end of the month.
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“I had lost my interest in going to Hong Kong, thinking that the services and options available in Hong Kong were also available and doable in urban cities in China,” said Terry Fang, a private businessman in Guangzhou.
“But the changes [on the mainland] in the past two years have made me and many of my friends around me eager to go to Hong Kong soon, where we can do many of the things we eagerly want to do.”
After the pandemic erupted in 2020, the central government adopted a zero-Covid approach that limited travel, locked down cities and mandated rounds of neighbourhood testing. But as the strategy began to wear on the economy and frustrate residents, authorities last month began dropping the restrictions.
Fang said he planned to travel to Hong Kong late this month or early February, and was looking forward to reuniting with family and friends. He would also shop for medicine and take a Covid-19 vaccine, as well as watch films not slated to be shown on the mainland, he said.
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“The most important thing is to meet older relatives aged above 90, and it’s like a dream to still have the opportunity to get together again,” he said.
Fang said he hoped to visit famous restaurants such as Tim Ho Wan for Hong Kong-style dim sum and Kau Kee for beef brisket noodles.
Jay Li, who previously worked in Hong Kong and Shenzhen but was now based in Hangzhou, said he planned to fly directly to the financial hub once he received his tourist visa.
“I’m looking forward to going to see how much Hong Kong has changed,” he said “Is it like what social media said, that many Hong Kong middle-class families have left. Is the vacancy rate of office buildings high in Central, and the prices of many properties reduced?”
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Cherry Chen, an emigration consultant in Chengdu, said that many of her clients were interested in visiting Hong Kong.
“The market information in Hong Kong is more reliable and updated for any decision on investment and migration,” she said. “Everyone has been stuck in China for more than three years. Now we want to look overseas right away so we can make further decisions. Hong Kong is definitely the best first stop.”
But other travellers such as 22-year-old Shailene Wei found it was challenging to book appointments for tourism visas.
Wei, who planned to visit friends and attend the popular Clockenflap music festival in March, said she had to choose a visa application centre in a rural district that was a half-hour drive away. Most slots at more convenient places were already fully booked for the weekend.
“Everyone is so ready to travel,” she said.
