'Local Tours To Resume Early Next Month'

The lawmaker representing the tourism sector, Yiu Si-wing, said on Thursday that he believes local tours can resume next month as Hong Kong's coronavirus situation eases.

Yiu told an RTHK programme that the government has agreed that participants of local tours would not have to get vaccinated against Covid-19 as previously suggested.

“We have come to a consensus people who join local tours would only be required to use the LeaveHomeSafe app. We think it’s a reasonable arrangement. Frontline staff who will come into contact with our customers will be required to get vaccinated,” he said.

He said he expects an announcement to be made after the Executive Council approves the relaxation of social distancing measures on April 28, and tours can resume on May 8 at the earliest.

On the introduction of a travel bubble with Singapore, Yiu said he expects that to happen soon, saying it is a good sign that the city state will reduce mandatory quarantine requirements for people arriving from Hong Kong by a week.

But he said the quarantine requirements must be dropped on both sides for travel to fully resume.