Hong Kong Is Rolling Out New Travel Vouchers To Tourists

Chief Executive John Lee announced the new initiative as a bid to boost tourism in Hong Kong.

The new cities to the Individual Visit Scheme are the following: Taiyuan of Shanxi province, Hohhot of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Harbin of Heilongjiang, Lhasa of Tibet, Lanzhou of Gansu, Xining of Qinghai, Yinchuan of Ningxia, and Urumqi of Xinjiang. Together with Xi’an and Qingdao, the VIS now covers 59 cities from mainland China.

All the details on the new Hong Kong tourist voucher

The Hong Kong tourist voucher can be used at different restaurants and stores. The Hong Kong Tourism Board will work together with airlines and other sectors to promote unique experiences about culture, heritage, and the environment. Some airlines already have plans to increase flights from cities like Harbin and Urumqi.

Lee added that the scheme accounted for about 60 per cent of mainland tourists last year. As the newly added cities are provincial capitals, he hopes that they can contribute further to the economy. The aim is to bring about 300,000 tourists, accounting for roughly HKD 1.5 billion (approx. USD 192 million) in economic spending.

“These cities collectively contribute a robust economic output, and by integrating them into our tourism framework, we anticipate significant economic benefits,” he said.

An increase in visitor arrivals

For April, Hong Kong had 3.4 million tourists, which is a 20 per cent increase year-on-year. Half of them were non-mainland visitors. By the end of Ramadan, travellers from Indonesia increased by more than 80 per cent compared to last year. 

In terms of long-haul travel, the US and Canada also jumped to more than 80 per cent year of year. In total, there have been 14.62 million visitors to the city from January to April. The figure is double from last year.

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This story first appeared here.

All currency conversions were done at the time of writing. 

(All images credit: Robson Hatsukami Morgan/Unsplash)

Related: No More Group Tours: Hong Kong Expands Solo Travel Scheme To More Chinese Cities