People celebrate Hong Kong govt's campaign to attract visitors

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People celebrate Hong Kong govt's campaign to attract visitors

CHINADAILYHK.COM People from both the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong applauded the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's ambitious move on Thursday, calling it a huge attraction to draw visitors from across the globe.

As part of the effort to revitalize Hong Kong's economy after three years of strict COVID 19 restrictions, the Hello Hong Kong campaign includes 500,000 free airplane tickets, vouchers, and a number of major trade shows and conferences, as well as sports and arts events.

I feel very surprised and excited that the Hong Kong government is offering such a great discount for visitors coming to the city, said Cui Jiayuan, an office worker in Shanghai who hails from Kunming, provincial capital of southwest Yunnan province. It is a huge attraction for us. Cui went on a six-day business trip to Hong Kong in early January. I hope to see more details on the release of free air tickets as soon as possible. She said last month s business trip was very rushed and she hopes to be able to visit Hong Kong again on my vacation. She added that she hopes to be one of the lucky 500,000 people.

The Hong Kong SAR government announced on Friday that the border between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland will fully reopen on Monday, with requirements for COVID 19 negative testing results scrapped and no quotas on visitors from either side of the country being imposed.

READ MORE: HK will give away 500,000 free airline tickets worldwide.

A woman surnamed Song, who spent Lunar New Year in Hong Kong with her daughter, said it was great to hear that polymerase chain reaction tests are no longer needed to cross the border.

The pandemic meant that Song, who runs a clothing store in Beijing, and her daughter, who works at a law firm in Hong Kong, had to stay apart for a long time.

The series of gifts and goodies offered by the Hello Hong Kong campaign, coupled with the upcoming full border reopening, will certainly draw large crowds to Hong Kong, Song said.

ALSO READ: Hong Kong rolls out a mega campaign to attract visitors.

She hopes that the vouchers distributed to tourists won't set too high a spending threshold. Hong Kong's spending level is a bit higher than the Chinese mainland, and she said that if these vouchers are only available for large purchases, it might discourage some potential mainland consumers.

Crystal Lau Man-tsin, a postgraduate student at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, hopes that more incentives can be launched to help Hong Kong residents, as well as to welcome the government's generous offer to woo mainland and overseas visitors.