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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2021-04-26 17:15
Last update date: 2021-04-26 17:15
The governments of Hong Kong and Singapore announced on Monday (26th) that exclusive flights under the bilateral "air travel bubble" agreement will set off on May 26. Cross-border aviation will be resumed gradually and in an orderly manner while the epidemic situation in the two places remains stable. contacts.
In addition, officials said earlier that they are discussing the establishment of tourism bubbles with Japan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and other places.
During the epidemic, tourism-related industries affected by immigration control measures may be able to breathe a sigh of relief as the tourism bubble gradually expands.
Tourism and related industries are the focus of Hong Kong's economy. The economic benefits brought by Singaporean tourists in the past cannot be underestimated.
According to the Immigration Department, from 2015 to 2019, when the tourism industry was affected by social movements, Singapore was the second most visited country among Southeast Asian tourists, with 480,000 to 520,000 overnight tourists coming every year. If Hong Kong becomes the first place to open up the tourism bubble, there are indeed many benefits.
Tourism bubble economy benefits
Over the past four years, Singapore’s overnight visitors spent an average of 3.25 billion Hong Kong dollars each year, especially in hotel accommodation and food, which averaged approximately 1.24 billion and 930 million Hong Kong dollars.
The gradual restart of the tourism industry is an inevitable part of the recovery of Hong Kong's economy.
Since tourists can bring such considerable benefits, the Hong Kong government should work hard for more bilateral tourism agreements.
Nearly 260,000 people are still unemployed in Hong Kong. The unemployment situation in consumer and tourism-related industries is still serious. Among them, the unemployment rate in retail, accommodation and catering services is as high as 10.7%. How to find a way out for these tourism-related industries is definitely a top priority for the government. .
In the four places of Japan, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand that the Hong Kong government is negotiating, nearly 1.81 million people stayed overnight in Hong Kong in 2018, creating nearly 10.3 billion yuan in revenue for Hong Kong.
The cooperation between Hong Kong and Singapore is an attempt by the government to balance the epidemic prevention and economy. The Hong Kong government should accumulate experience to prepare for the tourism bubble with other places in the future.
Hong Kong must also do its part in epidemic prevention first before it is hopeful that it can strive for exchanges with other places.
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Be cautious and prepare to restart
However, before expanding the tourism bubble, Hong Kong must also do a good job of epidemic prevention before it can hope to strive for exchanges with other places.
In recent days, there are still loopholes in Hong Kong's detection and epidemic prevention. For example, if the previous "false positive" event recurs during the bubble period, it will inevitably cause a "fuse", which will disrupt the travel of passengers for no reason.
As for quarantine hotels, the suspected corridor spreading of viruses and even community infections will also seriously undermine the confidence of foreign governments and tourists in Hong Kong's epidemic prevention.
In addition, whether other countries are assured of letting their citizens come to Hong Kong is undoubtedly a factor of consideration for the popularity of vaccination in Hong Kong.
According to the latest figures from the governments of Singapore and Hong Kong, the dose per 100 people in Singapore has been vaccinated as high as 37.8 doses, which is more than double the 16.7 doses in Hong Kong, and this difference is due to the narrower scope of vaccinations in Singapore than in Hong Kong. occur.
If the vaccination rate in Hong Kong continues to fail to catch up with other regions, it is likely to affect the progress of discussions on bubble arrangements with other regions.
On the one hand, the Hong Kong government must correct the existing problems as soon as possible, and reduce the chance of mistakes by the testing contractor in testing. In terms of epidemic prevention, it should also prevent unvaccinated and unquarantined visitors from contacting the community from the quarantine of hotels and arrival arrangements. .
But on the other hand, if the general public wants to travel abroad, they naturally need to be vaccinated first, but those who stay in the local area and do not travel abroad should also make an appointment for vaccination as soon as their personal health conditions permit, whether for the purpose of preventing the importation of the epidemic or protecting themselves. Vaccines can be considered responsible for the local economy and society in order to prevent the epidemic from rebounding and the tourism bubble will fall short.
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