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In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, many governments have issued entry restrictions of different kinds, making Hong Kong people unlikely to travel overseas in the short term. Fortunately, it is not difficult at all to find joy travelling within Hong Kong, one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. Today, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) launched the “Holiday at Home” campaign, with the precise aim of encouraging Hongkongers to be a tourist of their own city and rediscover the beauty of Hong Kong with a new perspective.
HKTB Chairman Dr YK Pang said: “Due to the continued stringent travel restrictions and quarantine measures implemented by the Hong Kong Government and other governments around the world, the number of visitor arrivals to Hong Kong remains at a very low level. Provisional data show only around 8,100 arrivals in May, nearly a 100% decrease year on year. The HKTB’s strategy to revive Hong Kong tourism begins with revitalising the local market. By encouraging local tourism, we hope to rebuild the city’s vibrant atmosphere and give the world a positive impression so that visitors will feel confident about coming to Hong Kong again.”
Dr Pang continued: “The ‘Holiday at Home’ campaign has received great support from the tourism, retail and dining industry, working together to boost local consumption. We are also hoping that the campaign will give the tourism and related trade an opportunity to warm up and prepare for welcoming visitors again later on. Once it is possible for visitors from a certain market to travel to Hong Kong, the HKTB will appeal to those visitors by extending to them the travel and local spending information and offers featured in this campaign, together with attractive flight-and-hotel packages.”
The three elements of the “Holiday at Home” campaign
The “Holiday at Home” campaign provides locals with a wealth of information on travelling around Hong Kong, including 1) Insiders’ Guides: more than 100 recommended points of interest, many of which are lesser-known venues and activities; 2) One-stop Dining, Shopping and Entertainment Offer Platform: over 10,000 offers from across the territory and more will be added to the list; 3) Spend-to-redeem local tours: local residents can redeem local tours through spending.
The campaign will be rolled out in phases, and the HKTB hopes to inject new ideas to it continuously in the coming few months. Details are as follows:
| Element | Highlights | Release schedule |
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| Insiders’ Guide |
- 6 themes: Based on the themes of skyline (harbour views), local culture, wellness (outdoor activities), night entertainment, dining and shopping, about 120 interesting venues and activities from across the city are featured to facilitate in-depth exploration of Hong Kong.
- Lesser-known venues and activities, such as:
- Exploring Hong Kong from new angles: New spots to appreciate Hong Kong’s night vistas
- Secret places: Daytime Cha Chaan Teng-turned evening live house; uninhabited islands
- Extreme activities at sea, on land and in the air: Get an adrenaline rush without travelling outside of Hong Kong
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Immediately |
| One-stop Dining, Shopping and Entertainment Offer Platform |
- An all-encompassing collection of offers spanning numerous sectors:
- Various categories: Hotels, attractions, shops, dining, malls and tours
- A wide selection: Nearly all major attractions (12), hotels that have staycation package promotions (over 110); and shopping malls (over 100) have joined the campaign to provide entertainment, spending and dining offers
- Award-winning restaurants: 34% off special menu developed by a Michelin-starred restaurant for the campaign; buy-one, get-onefree offers, half-price offers and selected free dishes upon spending at numerous awardwinning restaurants
- Promotions by four major credit card networks for the first time: Four major credit card networks namely Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay and American Express are offering promotions on the same platform for the first time to boost spending. On top of that, American Express is organising weekly lucky draws riding on the campaign.
- A bigger second wave of offers: In light of the government’s Cash Payout Scheme and the arrival of summer holiday, family-friendly offers as well as dining offers on the popular food and restaurant guide platform OpenRice will be added.
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Phase 1: Immediately
Phase 2: Mid-July |
| Spend-to-Redeem Local Tours |
- Local tours redeemable upon spending a designated amount. Details to be announced at a later time.
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August (tentative) |
Brand new website HolidayHK.com
Locals can obtain the in-depth travel guides and information about the offers by visiting the dedicated campaign website HolidayHK.com on their computer or smartphone.
To provide greater convenience for the public, the HKTB has also set up themed decorations around town featuring the QR code linking to the campaign website.
Provisional visitor arrivals in May
Provisional data show that Hong Kong received about 8,100 arrivals in May, an average of about 260 arrivals per day, which is almost double the April figure. It is believed that most of these visitors came to Hong Kong for real needs, including Mainland parents accompanying their children who go to school in Hong Kong in preparation for the school reopening, and Taiwanese students travelling to the Mainland via Hong Kong to continue their studies.
Provisional visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in May 2020
| Source market |
May
(year-on-year difference) |
January to May (’000)
(year-on-year difference) |
| Mainland |
5,623 (-99.9%) |
2,675 (-88.6%) |
| Non-Mainland* |
2,516 (-99.9%) |
827 (-86.6%) |
| Short-haul |
938 (-99.9%) |
348 (-89.7%) |
| Long-haul |
1,342 (-99.6%) |
315 (-83.6%) |
| New markets |
136 (-99.8%) |
47 (-84.9%) |
| Total |
8,139 (-99.9%) |
3,501 (-88.2%) |
Note: Owing to rounding, the total may differ from the sum of the individual figures.
* Includes visitor arrivals from short-haul, long-haul and new markets, as well as the Macao SAR (The full details of May visitor arrivals will be released on 30 May.)
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