Breaking | Beijing adds 8 mainland Chinese cities to Hong Kong solo traveller scheme, with residents in parts of Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet to benefit
Tourists from eight mainland Chinese cities in remote areas such as Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Tibet will be able to visit Hong Kong without joining group tours after Beijing announced it would further expand a solo traveller scheme to boost the sector.
The National Immigration Administration said on Saturday residents in the cities would be able to apply to visit from May 27.
It said the eight places were: Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province; Hohhot in China’s northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region; Harbin in the country’s northeast province of Heilongjiang; Lhasa in Tibet; Lanzhou in Gansu; Xining in Qinghai; Ningxia’s regional capital, Yinchuan; and Urumqi in Xinjiang.
Under the Individual Visit Scheme, tourists can apply for a visa which allows them to stay in Hong Kong or Macau for no more than seven days at a time. Visitors can choose from single-entry or double-entry visas valid for three months or a year.
Authorities announced the move just two days after Xia Baolong, the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, told tourism chief Kevin Yeung Yun-hung that the local administration must revitalise its offerings amid “profound changes” in the market and treat every corner of the city as a potential spot to lure visitors.
Hong Kong’s tourism industry has been struggling to recover, with the number of trips to the city over the Labour Day “golden week” holiday earlier this month hitting just two-thirds of pre-pandemic levels.
The growing trends of mainland visitors spending only day trips in the city or choosing to spend their nights in cheaper hotels across the border have also added to the problems facing the sector.
Beijing already expanded the scheme in February to add tourists from Xian and Qingdao, although the move generated a lukewarm response.
Some residents in the two cities said the new arrangements were not much different, suggesting individual travellers who held group tour visas had made independent trips to Hong Kong for years. Travel agents also said there had been no jump in bookings.
