traveltransport
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is to introduce measures on tourist flow management on campus following an influx of visitors from the mainland. Local media have reported on the grounds being as “crowded as Disney,” with mainland tourists barging into lecture halls for photo-taking during lectures. The Pok Fu Lam campus has sky-rocketed in popularity among Chinese tourists following recommendations on social media platform Xiaohongshu. But residents and students have long complained of the influx of crowds, queues for the MTR and disturbances, leading to signs across campus reminding visitor...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong MTR fares will increase by about 3 per cent in June, the city’s railway operator has announced. The MTR Corporation (MTRC) – Hong Kong’s only train services provider – announced the hike on Tuesday under a rate adjustment mechanism that takes into account the conglomerate’s property development profits. The government-controlled firm said the increase had considered public affordability as the fare adjustment was capped at 3.09 per cent, the equivalent to the change in median monthly household income in 2023. According to its fare adjustment mechanism, the price hike could have been ...
Hong Kong Free Press
Discovery Bay Transportation Services has asked the government’s Transport Department to approve a 60 per cent hike in ferry fares, citing a poor financial position despite years of taxpayer bailouts and subsidies. If approved, single adult journeys to the Lantau residential area from Central will rise from HK$46 to HK$73.6 for non-resident Octopus card users. For registered residents using Octopus, fares could also rise by 60 per cent from HK$33.5 to HK$53.6. Free travel for children under 1 accompanied by an adult will be maintained, though those aged 65 and over, and children aged 1 to 11, ...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hikers, trail runners and nature lovers are petitioning the government to halt a “disastrous” use of plastic in the construction of countryside trails. The authorities, in turn, have insisted that wood plastic composite (WPC) is environmentally-friendly. Petition signatories stated they were “astonished” to see that a plan for Lantau Island’s new, 100 kilometre round-the-island trail, involved the use of “massive amounts” of WPC for step frames and railings. “Plastic wood is a synthetic composite material made of plastic and wood chips. It is by no means environmentally friendly and applying i...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s flagship carrier Cathay Pacific lacked the experience and digital capability to predict a manpower shortage, the Civil Aviation Department has found, after the flagship carrier cancelled more than 780 flights from December to February. Cathay attributed the cancellations over the peak travel period to an “unanticipated and sustained increase in pilot sickness, most likely caused by a peak in seasonal influenza,” according to the airline’s report submitted to the department. The carrier said it had conducted projections to ensure that it had enough pilots for the rest of the 2024 sc...
Hong Kong Free Press
The tourism board invited over 2,000 trade and media stakeholders, bloggers, celebrities, and key opinion leaders (KOLs) from mainland China, Southeast Asia and Europe in 2023 to visit and help “tell the good story of Hong Kong.” Chinese bloggers with large followings on Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Weibo and Bilibili were among those targeted, alongside Hollywood movie stars, Acting Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Raistlin Lau said in a legislative reply to lawmaker Chan Chun-ying on Wednesday. Each were invited to “come to Hong Kong to experience [its] diverse tourism features and share th...
Hong Kong Free Press
Two recently published books shed light on the relations between central and local authorities in mainland China, and provide valuable lessons for Hong Kong. In one, we see that local politicians in Wuhan failed to learn the lessons of SARS, repeating mistakes during the outbreak of Covid-19 that had disastrous consequences for the country and the world. They operated in a system designed centrally that prioritised politics and stability above all else. In the other, we see that local politicians not only accepted instructions and advice from central authorities, but also actively, persistentl...
Hong Kong Free Press
China will offer 15-day visa-free travel for nationals of Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg and Switzerland from next Thursday. Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the move at a Thursday press conference in Beijing, held on the side lines of China’s annual parliamentary meetings. “We hope more countries will also offer Chinese citizens visa facilitation and work with us to build fast-track networks for cross-border travels and encourage speedy resumption of international passenger flights,” he said, according to RTHK. Ordinary passport holders from the six European states will be a...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong can expect more tourists this year but they will be spending less per head, according to the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau. Visitors are expected to spend an average of HK$5,800 on overnight stays this year, a 16 per cent decrease from last year. The bureau’s estimated that per capita expenditure by overnight visitors stands at HK$5,800, according to figures released in the 2024 budget on Wednesday, down from last year’s HK$6,939. Overnight visitors spent HK$6,614 in 2018. See also: Hong Kong finance chief defends monthly HK$1 million fireworks after pushback from residents Thos...
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s finance chief has defended plans for monthly fireworks shows that would cost HK$1 million each and are intended to entice tourists to stay longer in the city. Responding to residents in a Cantonese televised phone-in programme on Thursday morning, including one who suggested focusing on big-name concerts instead, Paul Chan said having monthly fireworks displays and concerts were not “mutually exclusive,” and tourists could schedule their stays around the fireworks. That would entice visitors to “stay an extra night,” he said. Responding to a caller’s concerns over whether the novel...
Hong Kong Free Press
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