Will Hong Kong benefit from Cathay’s giveaway of tickets to overseas destinations?

Cathay Pacific Airways is giving away more than 5,700 tickets to mainland Chinese for international flights out of Hong Kong in the final round of a government promotional campaign, raising questions over whether the move will benefit local tourism as originally intended.

But the Airport Authority, in charge of the giveaway, rejected concerns that the promotion only made use of Hong Kong as a transit point, saying the effort would still help enhance the city’s status as an aviation hub.

The promotion on Ctrip is open to mainlanders between September 3 and March 31 of next year under a buy one, get one deal.

Destinations include Bangkok, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney, Paris and Amsterdam, with all flights departing from Hong Kong.

The promotion is sponsored by the Airport Authority as part of the more than HK$2 billion (US$255 million) “Hello Hong Kong” campaign.