Hello, Hong Kong: With over 500k free air tickets, China tries to woo the world back
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: In what is billed as the “World’s Biggest Welcome”, Hong Kong has offered more than 500,000 free fights after a three-year-long Covid isolation, to woo tourists and investors back to China whose economy is facing severe recession.
The government’s rebranding campaign, “Hello, Hong Kong,” bills itself as an effort to tell “good stories” about the southern Chinese city, the media reported on Friday.
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee on Thursday announced over 500,000 free air tickets to visitors and promised positive publicity to resurrect the once-vibrant global hub after three years of Covid-enforced isolation in a former British colony, where years of political repression, coupled with pandemic curbs, have tarnished its business-friendly reputation.
Promising “no isolation, no quarantine, and no restrictions” during a speech to business and tourism heavyweights, Lee announced free air tickets for visitors to experience the city’s “hustle and bustle.”
The giveaway will open in March, mainly distributed by local airlines Cathay Pacific, HK Express, and Hong Kong Airlines.
Another 80,000 tickets will be offered to residents in the summer, with the carriers yet to announce destinations.
“This, ladies and gentlemen, is probably the world’s biggest welcome ever,” Lee said.
Adherence to Beijing’s Zero-Covid strategy of quarantine, closed borders and face masks kept Hong Kong largely virus-free until a deadly Omicron outbreak at the start of 2022. But it also contributed to an economic recession and the exodus of over 2.5 percent of the population. These restrictions closed off what was once one of Asia’s most connected cities.
Hong Kong welcomed just 600,000 visitors in 2022, less than one percent of 2018’s figure.
Over the past three years, more than 130 international companies have shuttered their Hong Kong offices, while a recent survey of 253 Japanese firms showed they mainly were unable to secure quality workers.
According to officials, more than 140,000 people left Hong Kong’s labor force last year, when the economy contracted by 3.5 percent.
John Lee, a former security chief currently under US sanctions over his role in snuffing out 2019’s mass pro-democracy protests, promised to correct the poor publicity.
“I will carry the promotional messages of our prowess as the world’s freest economy and China’s international financial center.”
