Tickets will be distributed to inbound and outbound travellers next year
Reuters
Hong Kong says it would give away 500,000 plane tickets worth HK$2 billion ($254.8 million) as it tries to revive its tourist sector post the pandemic.
The Airport Authority is buying tickets from carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong Express, and Hong Kong Airlines as it seeks to promote tourism. The airport authority will finalise the arrangement with airline companies.
Once the government announces it will remove all Covid-19 restrictions for inbound travellers, we'll roll out the advertising campaigns for the free air tickets," Dane Cheng, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, was quoted in a BBC report.
The free tickets, he said, will be distributed to inbound and outbound travellers next year.
Covid curbs in the city were lifted last month. All international arrivals are now able return home or to accommodation of their choice but they have to self-monitor for three days after entering the Chinese special administrative hub.
Hong Kong's Travel Industry Council expects outbound travel to surge as much as 50% over the next few months.
(with inputs from Reuters)