Hong Kong has begun giving away 500,000 airline tickets in an effort to woo tourists back to the region. The tickets will be released in stages. Yesterday, people who wanted to avail of these tickets via the special scheme faced hours-long online queues. These tickets will be available to Europeans from May onwards.
To entice globetrotters to embark on a long-awaited visit to Hong Kong, 500,000 free tickets are being given away by the Airport Authority Hong Kong to different markets in phases, through three home-based carriers namely Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong Express and Hong Kong Airlines.
An array of enticing welcoming offers from over 16,000 outlets across the city have been put together by the HKTB and the tourism and hospitality sectors to welcome back visitors. Among which, at the initial stage, at least 1 million “Hong Kong Goodies” visitor consumption vouchers of value over HK$100 each will be given out, covering a complimentary welcome drink at participating bars, restaurants, and hotels, or a cash voucher to be redeemed in the transportation, culinary and retail sectors, and attractions.
How can you avail of the free tickets?
Hong Kong based Airlines Cathay Pacific, HK Express, Hong Kong Airlines and Greater Bay Airlines will get 65 per cent of the free tickets and these will be distributed through their direct channels or their agents. The remaining tickets will be reserved for tourism-related sectors to support inbound tourism and promote Hong Kong.
The giveaway will take various forms, ranging from lucky draws, to first-come-first-served, to buy one, get one free.
Tickets will be distributed gradually on the airlines’ overseas platforms starting with Southeast Asian countries from March, and this will be followed by mainland China from April, and Northeast Asia, Europe and other markets from May.
Those wanting to avail of the scheme can register at the official websites – find the links here.
It’s worth registering as early as you can when the competition opens in your part of the world as a limited number of tickets are allocated to each market. Locals in Hong Kong can also get in on the action when an additional 80,000 free outbound tickets get offered to them in July.
The campaign covers airfare on round-trip economy-class flights. It’s important to note that if you win, you’ll still have to pay any related surcharges, fees and taxes.