Hong Kong leader John Lee welcomes Beijing’s move to expand solo traveller scheme to Xian, Qingdao – cities with high-income, big-spending residents
- Residents from the two mainland Chinese cities can apply for travel endorsement from March 6, according to Beijing authorities
- Tourists from cities in Heilongjiang province, such as Harbin, will be added to solo traveller scheme in the next phase, sources say
Hong Kong’s leader has expressed confidence that allowing people from the mainland Chinese cities of Xian and Qingdao to visit on an individual basis will benefit the local tourism sector and economy, given their residents’ high incomes and spending power.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Friday welcomed the central government’s decision to permit residents from the two highly populated cities to apply to visit Hong Kong under an expanded solo traveller scheme, starting on March 6.
“These two cities’ tens of millions of residents, trillions of yuan in gross domestic product [GDP] and annual growth prove their residents are in high-income, high-spending consumer groups,” he said shortly after the announcement by the mainland’s Exit-Entry Administration Bureau.
Lee said it would be particularly helpful for Hong Kong in terms of luring high value-added overnight visitors, benefiting the hotel, tourism and catering sectors.
He noted that the GDP of Xian and Qingdao reached 1.2 trillion yuan (US$166.7 billion) and 1.6 trillion yuan in 2023, growing by 5.2 per cent and 5.9 per cent year on year, respectively.
“This once again proved President Xi Jinping’s concern and support for Hong Kong,” he said. “[It] is a reflection of the central government taking the views and the proposals of the Hong Kong government seriously.”
Lee said that for every 1.5 million tourists, the city’s GDP would get a 0.1 per cent boost and authorities would strive hard to equip Hong Kong with enough accommodation and facilities for visitors.
Tourists from cities in Heilongjiang province, such as Harbin, will be added to the scheme in the next phase, according to sources.
Xian, a northwestern city with a population of nearly 13 million, is home to the terracotta warriors and marks the start of the Silk Road. It served as the imperial capital for most of the Tang dynasty (618-907) and a cultural centre and hub for economic activity with neighbouring countries.
‘Beijing to make it easier for mainland China solo travellers to visit Hong Kong’
The announcement, which confirmed an earlier Post report, marks the first time a city in Shaanxi province has been added to the solo traveller scheme.
With a population of about 10 million, Qingdao is one of the largest cities in Shandong, the second most populous mainland province. Previously, only Shandong’s Jinan was in the scheme.
With the travel endorsement, tourists can make one or two visits to Hong Kong and Macau within three months or a year, with each trip limited to seven days.
The Individual Visit Scheme already covers 49 mainland cities, including many first-tier ones such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Chongqing. The scheme allows residents of these cities to visit Hong Kong on their own rather than by joining tour groups.
It was first introduced in four Guangdong cities in 2003 as a liberalisation measure under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between the mainland and Hong Kong.
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The move to broaden the solo traveller scheme comes as Hong Kong looks to improve its sluggish economy with mega events to attract more tourists and encourage residents to stay in the city to boost local consumption.
Tourism minister Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said the government was confident it could provide a variety of high-quality travel experiences to visitors from different parts of the world.
“Tourists under the scheme accounted for more than 60 per cent of mainland tourists visiting Hong Kong in 2018, and they are an important force driving business in tourism-related industries,” he said.
“Xian and Qingdao each have a population of over 10 million, and it is believed that they can bring more high value-added overnight tourists to Hong Kong.”
But Simon Lee Siu-po, an honorary fellow at the Asia-Pacific Institute of Business at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, took a less optimistic view of the scheme’s expansion, saying tourists from the two cities were unlikely to bring significant economic benefits.
“They may be interested in coming to Hong Kong, but their spending power is limited,” he said.
He pointed to Qingdao and Xian’s GDP per capita being weaker than levels enjoyed by first-tier cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou.
“Hong Kong should not expect a miracle like post-2003,” he said. “Retail figures won’t improve much because [the city] is expensive. They can buy things elsewhere.
“Those who can afford it can travel to Japan or Thailand visa-free.”
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Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, urged Hongkongers not to focus too much on whether tourists from the two cities would be budget travellers.
“Mainland tourists will be turned off by Hong Kong if the city continues with this picky attitude,” he said. “Right now, we don’t have enough visitors and we want more of them.”
Caspar Tsui Ying-wai, executive director of the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners, said the hotel industry would welcome any scheme expansion because it would mean more business for the city’s hospitality and tourism sectors.
He added that planning and promoting the city as a tourist destination without affecting residents’ daily lives would be the main challenge for authorities following the scheme’s expansion.
“Our next step is to figure out how to do tourism promotion and bring these economic benefits to Hong Kong without affecting people’s daily lives,” he said.
Additional reporting by Jeffie Lam, Harvey Kong and Wynna Wong
