Hong Kong’s new world promotional marketing campaign will “kickstart” the town’s reopening to worldwide vacationers, the Hong Kong Tourism Board advised CNBC’s “Squawk Field Asia” on Friday.
As a part of the “Hiya Hong Kong” marketing campaign, which was launched on Thursday, 500,000 air tickets shall be given away over the subsequent six months, beginning in March.
The tickets shall be given out via three Hong Kong’s carriers — Cathay Pacific, HK Specific and Hong Kong Airways.
The free tickets are a part of the HK$2 billion ($255 milion) reduction bundle that the federal government supplied to airways in 2020, in the course of the top of the pandemic.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board can also be investing a minimal of HK$100 million within the promotion of the marketing campaign’s preliminary section, it mentioned on the launch ceremony.
However Hong Kong nonetheless faces a “dilemma” — its infrastructure has some catching as much as do to accommodate the rise in guests, mentioned Dane Cheng, the tourism board’s government director.
“I believe this dilemma, we’ve truly been seeing from different markets and locations after they began to reopen within the final yr or so. It is troublesome to catch up … significantly for the airways, the airports and even lodges,” he advised CNBC.
“[But] you need to kickstart and … inform the world in a transparent message that Hong Kong after which mainland — we’ve lastly reopened.”
How the tickets are allotted
The ticket giveaway shall be phased: It’ll begin with Southeast Asian markets, adopted by mainland China and North Asia, and lastly, different components of the world.
Some 80,000 tickets have additionally been reserved for Hong Kong residents which authorities purpose to present out in the summertime.
The variety of tickets for every area was based mostly on “site visitors shares” and customer numbers from earlier than the pandemic, mentioned Cheng.
Fred Lam, the CEO of Hong Kong’s airport authority, additionally expects the free tickets to have multiplying results on the variety of guests.
“We hope those that obtained the tickets will carry 2-3 extra family and friends with them [to Hong Kong],” in response to CNBC’s translations of Lam’s feedback on the marketing campaign launch ceremony.
“Though we’re solely giving out 500,000 air tickets, we consider it can carry in additional than 1.5 million incoming vacationers,” Lam added. That is about 10% of the entire variety of guests anticipated in the course of the marketing campaign interval.
As for a way guests can get their palms on these free tickets, it can depend upon “native market rules and customs,” he mentioned.
“[That] might embody large-scale fortunate attracts, giving it out via a first-come-first serve foundation, providing buy-on-get-one free tickets, or via sport participations,” Lam mentioned.
‘Very clearly reopened’
Hong Kong Monetary Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po (4th, proper) speaks in the course of the “Hiya Hong Kong” marketing campaign announcement on February 2, 2023.
Chen Yongnuo | China Information Service | Getty Pictures
On Friday, China mentioned cross-border journey with Hong Kong and Macao would totally resume from Feb. 6, scrapping necessary pre-departure checks and lifting arrival quotas, in response to a Reuters report.
“I believe it’s totally clear that the Hong Kong authorities and likewise our mainland central authorities has been very prudent they usually [made] it very clear that all the things needs to be resumed in an orderly and progressive method,” mentioned Cheng.
He added that earlier than the pandemic, Hong Kong had “over 25 million in a single day guests” annually, and it’ll take the town time to “get again” these numbers.
Return of MICE occasions in Hong Kong
Cheng mentioned the previous two to a few years had been “troublesome” for Hong Kong’s MICE (conferences, incentives, conferences & exhibitions) trade, which introduced in greater than 1.6 million abroad guests in 2019, earlier than the pandemic.
“The final yr or so, different international locations and cities and locations have began opening up and naturally we’ve some fantastic occasions which have been in Hong Kong for years,” mentioned Cheng.
“Anchor occasions [were] transferring out they usually make an apology, ‘We will different locations in Southeast Asia, Center East,’ or some simply principally postpone or defer.”
Nonetheless, he mentioned the town is now “assured” and “trying ahead to receiving guests” once more.
That may be seen via its “Hiya Hong Kong” marketing campaign, which has a 2023 lineup of greater than 250 occasions and festivals — together with the Hong Kong Marathon, the Clockenflap music competition and Hong Kong Rugby Sevens.
There are additionally greater than 100 worldwide MICE occasions deliberate for the yr, mentioned the town’s tourism board.
