NEW DELHI: Airline ticket giveaways, elaborate drone and pyrotechnic shows, and invitations to thousands of influencers to visit and “tell a good story.” These are among the wide-ranging ways Hong Kong has tried to revive its international tourism industry, a crucial economic driver battered by years of pandemic restrictions and political upheaval. It hasn’t been working that well.
Despite these efforts, for which the Hong Kong government budgeted roughly $129 million this year, the rebound of international travel to the city continues to lag far behind the tourist activity reported at most other Asian destinations. Thailand, South Korea and Japan are reporting visitor numbers nearing or surpassing prepandemic levels, as is most of the rest of the world, according to the latest data from the United Nations World Tourism Organization. But across Hong Kong, small shops and restaurants have closed; luxury hotels have dozens of empty rooms on any given night; and vibrant neighborhoods, once thronged with tourists, have quieted.
Numerous factors have led to this decline. In 2019, pro-democracy demonstrations over mainland China’s deepening control roiled Hong Kong. Tourism plummeted amid the turmoil, falling nearly 40% in the second half of the year compared with 2018.
In early 2020, in response to the pandemic, Hong Kong closed its borders, enacted long quarantines and intermittently banned flights; some of its measures went beyond those in the other parts of the world. R.
