The addition of eight Chinese cities to Hong Kong’s solo travel scheme will be “a timely boost” for the hotel and retail sectors, a veteran industry representative has said. The move by Beijing will allow more citizens to visit the city without joining a group tour.
On Saturday, Beijing announced the individual visit scheme will cover several remote cities in China, including Urumqi in Xinjiang, Lhasa in Tibet, and Hohhot in Inner Mongolia. Other newly-added cities include Taiyuan, Harbin, Lanzhou, Xining, and Yinchuan – all capitals of their respective provinces.
From May 27, residents from those areas may visit Hong Kong on their own, and may stay for up to seven days at a time.
It is the second time in three months the scheme had been expanded. In February, Xian and Qingdao were added to the list, bringing the total of mainland cities on the scheme to 51.
It will be a “timely boost” to local tourism-related industries, such as hotels and retail, as May and June were typically a low season periods, said Alan Chan, the chief operations officer of Miramar Group on Monday.
“To us it’s always like: ‘May is poor, June is dire, [but] July will flip around’… So it’s a good timing to provide a boost to the hotel industry,” Chan told RTHK radio in Cantonese.
He said, currently, the entire hotel industry in Hong Kong has about 17,000 vacant rooms per day – capacity that would be enough to accommodate the new visitors.
“Let’s assume it’s full flights – with 200 per flight – and eight cities would only amount to 1,600 people,” he said. “Accommodation would not be a problem at all.”
Provincial capital cities
Chan also said the residents from these eight mainland cities would be considered long-haul visitors and they would likely stay overnight in Hong Kong, unlike travellers from nearby cities such as Shenzhen and Zhuhai, who might opt for day trips.
He added that visitors from the new cities represent “the richest people from the region,” and would therefore benefit Hong Kong.
“There’s the economic benefit of provincial capital cities, as they are the node of the region and all local cities and towns are connected to them,” he added.
Chief Executive John Lee on Saturday also said the eight cities had a “large population, significant economic growth and high spending power.”
Hong Kong has seen a slow recovery in the tourism sector since all Covid-related travel curbs were lifted in early last year. The pace of international tourist arrivals to Hong Kong has resumed at a much slower rate than that of mainland Chinese tourists.
See also: Hong Kong struggles to win back long-haul tourists amid fewer flights and travel warnings
Launched in 2003, the individual visit scheme allows residents from designated mainland cities to travel to the city without joining a tour group. They can apply for single-entry or double-entry visa valid for three months or a year.
Help safeguard press freedom & keep HKFP free for all readers by supporting our team
