Home » St. Paul’s bus stops busy, and Hong Kong’s “grabbing tourists” takes a few beats | Lunar New Year | Macau | Nucleic acid testing

St. Paul’s bus stops busy, and Hong Kong’s “grabbing tourists” takes a few beats | Lunar New Year | Macau | Nucleic acid testing

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St. Paul’s bus stops busy, and Hong Kong’s “grabbing tourists” takes a few beats | Lunar New Year | Macau | Nucleic acid testing

[The Epoch Times, January 26, 2023](Comprehensive report by Epoch Times reporters Lier and Zhang Yingyu from Hong Kong) There is a huge gap in the number of inbound tourists between Hong Kong and Macau during the Lunar New Year period. Statistics from the Hong Kong Immigration Department show that during the 5 days from the 28th (29th) of the Lunar New Year to the 23rd (23rd) of the Lunar New Year, a total of more than 62,000 mainland tourists entered the country. A peak of mainland passenger arrivals. However, on the second day of Lunar New Year alone in Macau, 39,394 mainland tourists entered Macau in one day, and the hotel occupancy rate exceeded 90%. At present, Macau has implemented a number of measures to attract tourists, but similar measures in Hong Kong have only heard the sound of stairs, and the details are unknown. Nucleic acid testing is also required when traveling to and from the mainland. Various restrictions may reduce the desire of mainland tourists to come to Hong Kong.

After the mainland eased entry and exit epidemic prevention control on January 8, after more than half a month, the Hong Kong market, which was originally expected to be “rescued” by mainland tourists, has not seen any improvement, but Macau on the other side is already crowded. According to statistics from the Macau authorities, of the 71,678 inbound tourists received on the second day of the Lunar New Year, 39,394 were from mainland China, and 27,768 were from Hong Kong, becoming the main source of tourists. On the same day, Hong Kong only had 14,734 visitors from mainland China, and only 10,421 visitors from other regions, which is a big difference from Macau.

By the third day of the Lunar New Year (24th), as of 5:00 p.m., there had been 76,000 inbound tourists from Macau, breaking through the full-day figure on the second day of the Lunar New Year and breaking the record for the highest number of inbound visitors in a single day since the epidemic. Overall, during the three days from the Lunar New Year’s Eve (21st) to the second day of the Lunar New Year, 154,273 people entered Macau.

When Macao Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng inspected the situation of tourists on the 24th of October 5th Street, Senado Square and Avenida Sinai, he said that Macao has begun to come out of the haze of the epidemic, and it is expected that the number of tourists will still increase during the Lunar New Year.

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Hu Jingguang, chairman of the Macao Tourism Industry Council, described on the radio program on the morning of the 24th that the major casinos (casinos) are full of people, which is believed to be related to the fact that the Macao government and the industry have launched a hotel and train ticket buy one get one free discount to attract customers. It is because Macau canceled the nucleic acid testing requirements to facilitate tourists.

Buying train and ferry tickets to buy outbound trips and send return trips to help mainland tour groups Macau to attract more tourists from China and Hong Kong

Macau earlier launched a discount for Hong Kong residents to buy train or ferry tickets to Macau, “Buy the outbound journey and get the return journey free”. To encourage tourists to stay overnight in Macau, the discounted outbound and return journeys cannot be on the same day. On January 13, the day when the promotion started, there was a long queue of more than 500 people at the ticket office of the Hong Kong-Macau Ferry Terminal in Sheung Wan in the morning.

In addition, Macau launched a subsidy program last month to encourage travel agencies in Macau to strengthen promotion and promotion of Macau in the mainland in 2023. The subsidy amount of the plan is calculated according to the number of mainland tourists of the travel agency, the departure place of the tour group and the number of hotel nights in Macau. Each tourist from Guangdong Province who organizes a one-night stay in a hotel in Macau can be subsidized 150 patacas, and 300 patacas for two consecutive nights or more. Macau Pataca; each tourist outside Guangdong Province can be subsidized by 250 Macau Patacas (242.9 Hong Kong Dollars) for one night, and 400 Macau Patacas (388.6 Hong Kong Dollars) for two consecutive nights or more.

In order to further stimulate the consumption desire of Hong Kong tourists in Macau, the Macau Economic and Technological Development Council coordinated with five local industry and commerce associations and payment institutions to launch the “Macao Tour Consumption Reward” on the 20th of this month, which is provided to Hong Kong tourists through the Alipay Hong Kong payment platform. Macau Merchant Discounts.

Director of Macau Tourism Bureau: It is expected to spend 30 million yuan to attract tourists

Senna Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macau Tourism Bureau, revealed that the plan for the past three months will be fully subsidized by the Macau government, with an estimated cost of 30 million yuan, and will consider launching hotel discounts later.

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The article also stated that it is “preemptively taking the lead” in customs clearance with the mainland, and believes that Hong Kong has been quarantined from the mainland in the past three years, and Macau has already been quarantined from the mainland in 2020.

Hong Kong will have large-scale discounts to attract customers next month, details are unknown

While Macau is in full swing to offer discounts to tourists, Hong Kong has yet to see a large-scale implementation of measures to “grab tourists”.

The Tourism Board announced in the middle of this month that it will not cooperate with the government’s plan to promote Hong Kong until next month. It is called “Hello HK (Hello, Hong Kong!)” and will promote it globally with 100 million yuan, including distributing consumption discounts to tourists Coupons can be exchanged for special cocktails and other drinks for free; or enjoy consumption and privileges at scenic spots, retail or restaurant merchants, transportation operators, etc. The HKTB also intends to cooperate with airlines, travel agencies and hotels to launch privileges and discounts, details will be announced later.

When asked about the “buy the outbound trip and return trip” train and ferry ticket discount in Macau this month, why the discount in Hong Kong was not launched immediately, Cheng Dingyi, director-general of the Tourism Board, said that it is to cooperate with the government, and it is expected to cancel all epidemic prevention measures in February. At that time, the effect of promoting Hong Kong and the benefits will be even greater.

Yang Runxiong, director of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau, said in response to questions from members of the Legislative Council last Wednesday (18th) that the Airport Authority had purchased about 500,000 air tickets from airlines in 2020, and it is planning to purchase them through different channels within this year. The promotion will be given to tourists from all over the world to stimulate the recovery of Hong Kong’s tourism industry and aviation industry, but the AA is still coordinating with airlines and related organizations on the details of the relevant arrangements, saying that it will “announce in due course”. In addition, the government plans to launch a large-scale tourism promotional campaign in February, and details of the campaign will be announced later.

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Cui Dingbang, Director-General of the Tourism Promotion Association and Deputy Secretary-General of the Hong Kong-Macau Direct Bus Association, said yesterday that many people from the mainland will return to their hometowns for the New Year this year, and the number of tourists from the mainland to Hong Kong will inevitably decrease. Tourists from the mainland or overseas will pick up.

Macau’s entry-free testing proves that Hong Kong is still subject to testing and quotas

On the same day as January 8, when the mainland relaxed its entry and exit epidemic prevention control, Macao exempted each other from entering and exiting the country with nucleic acid certificates. People who entered Macao from Hong Kong or Taiwan on the same day did not need to show any test certificates.

In Hong Kong, the first stage of customs clearance will start on January 8. If you travel south from the mainland to Hong Kong, you must show a negative nucleic acid certificate 48 hours before travel. In addition, the reopened Shenzhen Bay Port, Man Kam To Port, and Lok Ma Chau Branch Line/Futian Port have daily travel limits between the two places. There are 50,000 people respectively, and it is necessary to reserve ports and time slots through the online booking platforms of the two places. However, entering Hong Kong through the airport, sea and other land gates is not subject to quota restrictions. In addition, when entering Hong Kong from Macau, a rapid antigen test must be performed within 24 hours of the scheduled arrival time and a negative result should be obtained.

Chou Sida, a current affairs commentator, pointed out that administratively, mainland China gives preferential treatment to applications for visas to go to Macau. On the other hand, applications for visas to go to Hong Kong cannot be applied by themselves, and must be processed at the relevant department during office hours on weekdays.

The exit-entry management department of the mainland public security agency has used smart endorsement equipment since November 1 last year to accept self-service applications for mainland residents to travel to Macau; however, visas for Hong Kong must be made online and processed at the immigration center. @

Responsible editor: Chen Wenqi

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