How to go on a Hong Kong trip on the cheap? Mainland Instagram-like social media Xiaohongshu has been flooded with tips on using the HK$100 vouchers courtesy of Hong Kong taxpayers and where to shower, eat, and get water.
Posts have gone viral on how to enjoy a free meal using the HK$100 “Hong Kong Night Treats for Visitors” dining vouchers, which can be redeemed at designated restaurants after 6pm.
“Each tourist can collect a HK$100 dining coupon at Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry Pier and it can be used at more than 100 restaurants with no requirements on minimum consumption,” one user posted.
“We had a meal at a Maxim’s restaurant. With the HK$100 coupon, we had two sets of roast duck on rice with milk tea and lemon tea, which was enough for two persons,” the user said.
Other posts tell tourists they can get water at public parks in the city and enjoy free showers at the Hong Kong International Airport.
Hong Kong Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui Ting-pong said it was not surprising that such posts have emerged as the reverse is true when Hongkongers have taught elderly citizens how to travel to Liantang port with only HK$2.
The viral posts do not mean mainland tourists’ consumption mode has changed, he said.
Chui also said fewer visitors would stay overnight in Hong Kong because transport between the SAR and Shenzhen is too convenient, as it only takes 12 minutes from Hong Kong to Futian by high-speed rail.
“It is even faster than traveling within HK. Under this circumstance, why do Shenzhen citizens have to spend a night in HK?” he said.
Chui said Hong Kong needs visitors who stay in the SAR for a short period to help the city’s retail sector.
Even if some tourists prefer to travel on a budget and have a good impression of Hong Kong, they may spend more when they return to the SAR in the future, he said.
Chui said he welcomed the Xiaohongshu posts so the city could be trending among travelers as a potential destination.
“Developing tourism is similar to being a celebrity. The last thing we want is that nobody talks about us,” he said, adding that the most important for travelers is to remember Hong Kong even if they only come to the city for one meal.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s hotel sector lamented the city’s tourism activities are not attractive enough for mainland visitors to stay overnight.
This came after mainlanders were stranded in Hong Kong in the early hours of New Year’s Day as cross-border transport ground to a halt past midnight.
Herman Lam, founding chairman of Guangdong Hong Kong Macau Hotel General Managers Society, said: “We should think about whether HK can attract tourists to stay longerAs transport becomes more convenient within the Pearl River Delta, there will be fewer tourists staying overnight.”
The post Vouchers a hit among mainland tourists appeared first on Hong Kong News Hub.
from
https://hongkongnewshk.com/vouchers-a-hit-among-mainland-tourists/
No comments:
Post a Comment