Why Hong Kong Is Giving Away 500,000 Plane Tickets
Hong Kong is celebrating its reopening to international travelers by giving away 500,000 plane tickets beginning in March.
To celebrate the reopening of Hong Kong to international travelers, the city will give away 500,000 free plane tickets as part of its “Hello Hong Kong” campaign. The free airfare tickets will be distributed over the next six months, starting in March. The free flights will be provided through three Hong Kong carriers—Cathay Pacific, HK Express, and Hong Kong Airlines—and will start with Southeast Asian markets.
The second phase of the giveaway will provide plane tickets to residents of mainland China and North Asia, and the third phase will concentrate on other parts of the world. Around 80,000 tickets have been reserved for Hong Kong residents to receive this summer. The city chose this phased distribution based on where visitors came from before the pandemic.
Hong Kong’s government offered airlines a HK$2 billion ($225 million) relief package during the height of the pandemic. The free plane tickets are part of that tourism relief initiative. The Hong Kong Tourism Board is investing a minimum of $HK100 million to promote the initial phase of the Hello Hong Kong campaign.
Dane Cheng, executive director of the tourism board, says that although Hong Kong has infrastructure improvements to make before welcoming an onslaught of tourists, it’s time to announce that the city has finally reopened. “I think this dilemma, we have actually been seeing from other markets and destinations when they started to reopen in the last year or so,” Cheng said. “It’s difficult to catch up … particularly for the airlines, the airports and even hotels.”
“Even though we are only giving out 500,000 air tickets, we believe it will bring in more than 1.5 million incoming tourists,” said Fred Lam, the CEO of Hong Kong’s airport authority, according to CNBC translations of his comments at the campaign’s launch ceremony. “We hope those who received the tickets will bring 2-3 more friends and family with them [to Hong Kong].”
Lam hopes the free plane tickets have a multiplying effect on the number of visitors to the city. He said that the process for receiving the tickets will depend on local regulations and customs, which could include games or other interactive giveaways. Some areas may opt to host large-scale lucky draws, offer buy-one-get-one-free promotions, or simply distribute them on a first-come-first-served basis.
Hong Kong hopes the plane tickets result in floods of people coming to support the city’s MICE industry (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) which suffered greatly during the pandemic. Prior to Covid-19, the MICE industry drew in more than 1.6 million overseas visitors in 2019. Cheng said that having over 25 million overnight visitors each year was normal for pre-pandemic Hong Kong.
Reuters reported that China fully reopened cross-border travel with Hong Kong and Macao on February 6. China eliminated mandatory pre-departure tests and arrival quotas, but much later than the rest of the world which began to reopen in 2022. ″We are the last one but we are very clearly reopened with no restrictions,” Cheng said.
There are still minor Covid-related restrictions, however. Hong Kong closely followed China’s lead in the nation’s tough zero-Covid policies, and all travelers are still required to test negative for Covid in a pre-departure test. Hong Kong also still requires mask-wearing on public transportation and while visiting indoor and outdoor public venues.
The free plane tickets will allow Hong Kong’s visitors to choose from more than 250 events and festivals in 2023. There are also more than 100 MICE events planned for this year. The Hong Kong Tourism Board’s official press release includes a list of participating bars, hotels, and restaurants.
