Mallika Dureja
Hong Kong is going to talk about the details of a plan to give away free plane tickets as part of a global publicity campaign. Bloomberg said that a government statement said that Hong Kong’s leader, John Lee, will be in charge of starting the Hello Hong Kong campaign.
South China Morning Post said that the campaign will include more than 200 events to highlight the city’s return. Most of the half-million free air tickets will be given out by Cathay Pacific Airways and its airline, HK Express. The report said that some free plane tickets will also be given to international tourists by travel agencies.
The goal of the initiative is to get the city’s economy going again and fix its bad reputation around the world, which was hurt by the violent protests in 2019 and the strict security laws put in place in 2020, as well as the three years of isolation during the Covid pandemic.
Australia is removing the British monarchy from its bank notes. The nation’s central bank said Thursday its new $5 bill would feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III https://t.co/Gn3Y38hy5u pic.twitter.com/h9LUdLr0P0
— TIME (@TIME) February 2, 2023
The tickets will be given to travellers in Asia, including China, Europe, and the United States. A “small portion” of the tickets will go to local people who want to travel abroad, according to a report.
Bloomberg said that in 2022, Hong Kong had almost 605,000 visitors, which was up from 91,000 in 2021. This was because the city was slowly getting rid of its Covid restrictions. But before the pandemic, almost 56 million people went to the city because Hong Kong was then Asia’s busiest international airport.
Also read: 3 Indian-American legislators got jobs in US committees.
Hong Kong has taken a number of steps to boost tourism, including this free plane tickets. Covid testing requirements and a quota system for Chinese visitors will soon be dropped, and three more border crossings will open again after being closed for almost three years.
