Business Leader Calls For Easing Of More Travel Curbs

The president of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association, Allen Shi, on Monday urged the government to further ease travel curbs for people arriving in Hong Kong, such as relaxing quarantine requirements.

Speaking on an RTHK radio show, Shi said the business sector is happy about the recent relaxations, which will take effect on Sunday.

The threshold for banning flights on a particular route will be raised, and non-Hong Kong residents will be allowed to fly here again.

He said while some businesses will stand to benefit from the easing of rules, the SAR can do more to open up since the pandemic is easing.

"Can returning Hong Kong residents quarantine at home, or stay two days in a hotel and spend the next five days at home? This can free up hotel rooms for overseas people to come to Hong Kong for work or to join exhibitions. For vaccinated non-Hong Kong residents, can we shorten quarantine to five days?" he suggested.

Shi added that Hong Kong can first work on reopening the border with Macau, and adopt a cautious approach by putting in place a quota system.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Hong Kong needs to work towards lifting quarantine for vaccinated travellers.

"Allowing non-residents to enter Hong Kong is a welcome development. The need to be quarantined, however, continues to be a disincentive for many people considering travel to Hong Kong, especially when many other cities in Asia are already allowing quarantine free travel," the IATA said in a statement.

Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu, meanwhile, said he doesn't expect many overseas tourists to visit the SAR even after the arrival restrictions are lifted.

However, he said the coming of business travellers will help the hotel and aviation sectors.

He added that quarantine hotels are filling up for the next couple of months, and officials should convert more community isolation hotels back for quarantine purposes.

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