First Hong Kong tour groups leave for Taiwan after self-ruled island reopens to city under eased Covid rules
- Visitors must travel in groups of between five and 40 people under recognised travel agencies, and can stay for 15 days at most
- Among holidaymakers are also people eager to see family members
The first batch of Hongkongers heading to Taiwan under tour groups gathered at the city’s airport with some fanfare on Friday morning, with the self-ruled island finally reopening to travellers after more than two years of Covid-19 restrictions.
Around 20 passengers were seen at check-in counters at the airport at 10.30am, three hours before their flight. Representatives from two tour agencies and Taiwanese carrier EVA Air handed out freebies for passengers to commemorate the trip.
“We’re very excited to be back to Taiwan,” said Ramy Yu, who joined a Wing On tour group with her sister, Amanda. They had visited the island once and were looking for a quick getaway from Hong Kong.
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Yu, who like her sister is travelling for the first time out of the city since the pandemic started, said she looked forward the most to dipping in the hot springs of Yilan county. The finance industry worker also welcomed news of reduced polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for travellers arriving in Hong Kong.
“Since Covid cases are quite stable and most people have already caught the virus, reducing the number of tests makes it more convenient for us,” she said.
Taiwan reopened to travellers from Hong Kong and Macau on November 7, but Friday’s flight marked the first organised tour groups to the island. Visitors must travel in groups of between five and 40 people, and can stay in Taiwan for 15 days at most. They must register through travel agencies recognised by the Taiwan authorities.
For other passengers, this trip means more than just an enjoyable vacation away from Hong Kong.
The Chois, an elderly couple, signed up for the tour immediately after learning about the border relaxation, as they have not seen their son, who migrated to Taiwan with his family, since the pandemic started.
“I miss my grandson so much. Joining the tour was the only way we could see them. We have been apart for three years,” said Mrs Choi, 70, who is travelling with her 78-year-old husband.
Their five-day tour organised by Wing On Travel costs HKD$3,899 (US$498) and includes visits to Jiufen, Shilin night market in Taipei city and a stay at a hot spring hotel in Yilan county.
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“We hope to resume pre-pandemic levels of eight to nine daily flights between Taiwan and Hong Kong as soon as possible,” said Stone Chen Shui-feng, general manager of the Hong Kong branch of EVA Air. The airline has increased the number of daily flights from one to three in December.
Despite challenges such as rising oil prices, Chen said he remained optimistic on the uptick in passenger numbers as pandemic control measures eased on both sides.
The resumption of tours to Taiwan came as the Hong Kong government further relaxed Covid-19 border restrictions. City authorities announced on Thursday that from next Monday, inbound travellers would only need to undergo PCR tests on the first and third day after arrival.
Travellers at present are required to undergo a PCR test at the airport on Day 0, meaning on arrival, as well as on days 2, 4 and 6.
The change in policy means the total number of PCR tests for travellers will be halved from four, but requirements for daily rapid antigen tests (RAT) until Day 7 will remain in place.
Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung said the relaxed PCR testing requirement would benefit business travellers and enable them to stay in the city for a longer period of time, but would not attract general tourists as much, pointing out that the city’s restrictions, including the number of surveillance days and PCR tests, remained stricter than those of many other destinations.
He called on the government to further relax the rules to require only one PCR test on arrival for inbound visitors of tour groups, with subsequent RAT tests.
“We need to send out a clear message that Hong Kong is back, and there are fewer and fewer restrictions for the outside world,” he said.
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Respiratory medicine expert Dr Leung Chi-chiu said on Friday that the reduced number of PCR tests for arrivals would not have a particular impact on the city’s overall pandemic situation, noting the number of imported cases only accounted for about 8 per cent of total infections.
“The impact of the imported cases on overall pandemic prevention and control is relatively small,” he told a radio programme.
Leung said as local transmission of coronavirus subvariants had become dominant, PCR tests for travellers were mainly used for monitoring purposes, adding that on-arrival screening was useful while the test on Day 2 could be replaced with a RAT.
Leung noted the local Covid-19 situation had rebounded over the past week, with the number of infections rising 29 per cent, especially those involving subvariants XBB and BQ.
But he said he did not expect large-scale outbreaks, as the city already had herd immunity and the inoculation rate was not low, adding there was no need for tightening social-distancing measures.
Hong Kong recorded 8,052 new Covid-19 infections on Thursday, the highest since September 18, including 533 imported cases, as well as 12 more deaths.
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Separately, BioNTech’s Omicron-specific bivalent vaccine has been officially approved for emergency use in Hong Kong by the health secretary, with the first batch expected to arrive by the end of the month, according to the Health Bureau.
Undersecretary for Health Libby Lee Ha-yun revealed on Thursday that residents could receive the German-made vaccines from December. While the new booster is not compulsory, the elderly and those engaged in high-risk activities are advised to receive it as a fourth dose.
Additional reporting by Emily Hung
