Interest surges as visit scheme further expands

Inquiries from Taiyuan city in Shanxi province on traveling to Hong Kong have more than doubled ahead of the first day of the expanded individual visit scheme to include eight more mainland cities.

Ng Tang, chairman of the Hong Kong Shanxi Chamber of Commerce, said entrepreneurs in the province can now visit Hong Kong to look for business opportunities.

Direct flights between Hong Kong and Taiyuan had ceased operation for years and were officially resumed in March, Ng said.

It is good news that Taiyuan is part of the new individual visit scheme, allowing merchants to "travel and spend money in Hong Kong while exploring business opportunities."

There are still no direct flights between Xining of Qinghai province and Hong Kong, but the Qinghai Hong Kong and Macau Association said the provincial government is planning to remedy this to facilitate interconnection between the two cities.

The other six new cities in the scheme include Hohhot in Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Harbin in Heilongjiang, Lhasa in Tibet, Lanzhou in Gansu, Yinchuan in Ningxia, and Urumqi in Xinjiang.

The total number of cities under the scheme is now 59.

With the expansion, Hong Kong's tourism sector said it is feeling confident and looking forward to welcoming tourists in July, the start of the peak summer holiday season. Hong Kong Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui Ting-pong said that as a cosmopolitan city, Hong Kong's dynamism and charm are attractive to travelers, and the SAR should seize the opportunity to serve as a bridge between the mainland and overseas.

Regarding the lack of direct flights, Chui said travelers from northern cities would usually visit several places when traveling to the south. He added: "They may make multiple stops in one trip, such as coming to Hong Kong and Macau after finishing sightseeing in Shenzhen."

Amid an off-peak season with the mainland annual undergraduate admission exam, Gaokao, just around the corner, most of the tourists arriving in Hong Kong joined group tours, instead of utilizing the individual visit scheme.

Meanwhile, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung visited the Hong Kong International Airport Visitor Centre to ensure that relevant units are well prepared to welcome visitors from the eight cities, provide comprehensive travel information and extend hospitality.

"The further expansion of the scheme to cover all provincial capitals in our country will help Hong Kong better connect and interact with residents from all provincial capitals through tourism activities, while promoting two-way visits between Hong Kong and different provincial capital cities and attracting more high value-added overnight visitors to Hong Kong," Yeung said.

stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com