Govt To Spend $934m To Boost Tourism

The government will earmark HK$934 million to boost tourism – one of the industries hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Announcing his budget proposals on Wednesday, financial chief Paul Chan said HK$169 million will be used to promote local cultural, heritage and creative tourism projects, such as the Yim Tin Tsai Arts Festival and the City in Time.

“The purpose is to offer leisure and travel experience with rich historical and cultural elements to both locals and visitors,” he said.

The rest of the money will go to the Hong Kong Tourism Board for it to roll out promotional offers when cross-boundary travels resume as Covid-19 eases.

Chan said the government will consider allowing local group tours again “provided that public health can be safeguarded”, and continue to explore the possibility of “air travel bubbles” with places where the epidemic situation is relative stable, but he did not disclose what places the government has in mind.

An earlier travel bubble arrangement with Singapore never materialised after a resurgence of coronavirus cases in Hong Kong.

Chan also said authorities will put in more resources to enhance country parks, recreational facilities and the harbourfront, in order to improve the quality of life of locals, and attract visitors.

He said the government will launch a “large-scale” campaign to once the pandemic further subsides, to promote Hong Kong “as a highly open international city in the Greater Bay Area” in terms of finance, IT, culture and creativity and tourism, as well as “our unique advantages under One Country, Two Systems”. But he did not give details or a timetable.

The government had already offered HK$2.6 billion's worth of relief measures for the tourism sector to combat the effects of the pandemic ahead of the latest budget.