HK should form ‘travel bubbles’ with neighbours who contained COVID-19
Now is the proper time for Hong Kong to create “travel bubbles” with regional neighbours who have seen similar success in containing the coronavirus outbreak in order to bring back visitors who stopped travelling due to health concerns.
Dane Cheng Ting-yat, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Tourism Board said this on May 29 as he called on the government to pursue the establishment of such connections with short-haul markets such as for example Macau, South Korea, Thailand and even mainland China.
With arrivals falling practically 100 per cent to 4,100 in April against the same period this past year, the scheme is actually a way to recreate travellers, Cheng said.
Nations such as for example Australia and New Zealand are already discussing forming a travel bubble. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have struck an arrangement allowing residents to visit freely without undergoing quarantine.
As part of a near-term strategy to revive tourism, Cheng said the board would introduce 11,000 enticements covering food, shopping, hotels and attractions, amongst others, from the middle of June in a campaign called “Hello Hong Kong”.
“If the promotions go well, we will extend it to overseas travellers in the next stage,” he said, adding the campaign could cost about USD 5.15 million.
On whether Beijing’s sudden proposal to enact a national security law in Hong Kong would worsen social unrest that began this past year, Cheng said, “Overseas visitors’ major concern is still about the development and containment of the coronavirus pandemic. We need to cope with this first.”
A spokeswoman for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said it was getting ready to relaunch Hong Kong’s tourism sector after assessing the advice from health authorities, and training quarantine, transportation and immigration arrangements with overseas markets.
Hong Kong recorded six new COVID-19 cases on June 2, taking the tally to 1 1,095. Of which, only four died.
The city normally recorded less than 100 arrivals a day in the first four months of this year weighed against the roughly 200,000 during normal times. Global travel has been grounded to a halt, with an increase of than 65 airlines cutting about 95 % of flights in April and May.
It would have a longer time for Hong Kong tourism to recuperate as much long-haul flights aren't expected to resume before fourth quarter of this year, Cheng concluded.
