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0+3|Have Quarantine Passengers and Lack of Tourists Local Hotels Lost? The industry advocates for reverse isolation

2022-09-28T10:00:21.410Z


After the entry quarantine was changed to "0+3", arrivals were no longer required to stay in designated quarantine hotels, which meant that many hotels could no longer earn income by meeting quarantine needs and government subsidies. However, "0+3" does not mean "return to normal", there are


After the entry quarantine was changed to "0+3", arrivals were no longer required to stay in designated quarantine hotels, which meant that many hotels could no longer earn income by meeting quarantine needs and government subsidies.

However, "0+3" does not mean "return to normal". According to some industry estimates, the demand for staycations for Hong Kong people to travel abroad will decline. If "0+3" does not attract overseas tourists, the business may drop by 20% to 30%.


Legislative Council member of the tourism industry, Yiu Pak-leung, suggested that hotels be included in the "reverse isolation" plan to help the industry have stable income. However, he also hoped that the government should regard the relaxation of the entry quarantine arrangement as a "buffer period", which will last until November or earlier, further relaxed to "0+0",


The government announced earlier that visitors will only need three days of home medical surveillance upon arrival in Hong Kong.

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Under the epidemic, the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong has dropped significantly, and some hotels have turned to staycation (staycation), successfully attracting many Hong Kong people to stay, so the business is still supported.

However, some small and medium-sized hotels may not be able to attract local guests for Staycation due to insufficient facilities, so they choose to apply for the government's designated quarantine hotel plan to maintain stable income.

Transforming into a quarantine hotel to help "anti-epidemic" turn losses

Take Huada Hotel (0201) as an example. Among its 6 hotels, 5 have become designated quarantine hotels or "community isolation facilities", which led to a revenue of 279 million yuan in the first half of the year, an increase of more than 90% year-on-year, and a net profit in the interim It rose more than 11 times year-on-year to 106 million yuan.

As for Regal Hotels (0078), whose 6 hotels have all become designated quarantine hotels or "community isolation facilities", the company turned losses into a profit of nearly 140 million yuan in the mid-term, and its revenue also increased by 1.57 times to more than 1.04 billion yuan. The group pointed out in its performance report. , operating as a quarantine hotel or facility that can generate stable income.

Overall, according to the 2021 Hotel Industry Review Report released by the HKTB, among the 71 local hotels that participated in the study last year, the average operating loss for available rooms was RMB 1,251, which was a decrease from the loss of RMB 28,230 in 2020. Narrow, the loss rate improved from 11.3% to 0.3%, it is believed that the loss has improved significantly, in addition to Staycation attracting customers, it is also related to becoming a designated quarantine hotel and the steady recovery of revenue.

Hong Kong re-hosts international events, but hotel bookings do not increase in November

Entry restrictions have been eased, and many quarantine hotels have immediately re-accepted "street customers". Take the Huada Shengpin Hotel as an example, its official website has stated, "With the recent revision of the government's quarantine policy, the Huada Shengpin Hotel has been closed since then. It is no longer a government-designated quarantine hotel." "0+3" is very normal. The hotel industry expects that it will still be difficult to attract overseas tourists to Hong Kong under the new measures. On the contrary, many Hong Kong people choose to travel overseas because of the convenience of entry and exit. Reduce consumption in Hong Kong.

"One visit, one visit", the industry "benefited" from the quarantine policy, and the performance turned around and even "made money", but it was also difficult to attract overseas tourists to Hong Kong due to the government's epidemic prevention measures.

In an interview with Hong Kong 01, Chen Yuanyan, manager of the Hotel Owners Association, bluntly stated that although Hong Kong will hold the "International Financial Investment Summit" and the International Rugby Sevens in November, there has been no increase in hotel bookings.

She called on the government to implement quarantine exemption on entry as soon as possible, implement full customs clearance, or give the industry a timetable, "At least until we know, how long it will take."

▼On September 25, the airport quarantine hotel diversion station will operate on the last day▼


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"Survive" may become a top priority after losing the source of quarantined tourists

The number of quarantine days has been gradually reduced from the longest 21 days to 7 days or even the current "0+3". The original quarantine "customer source" has been lost. At the same time, the industry also foresees that the new measures will not help tourists to come to Hong Kong.

According to data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Last year, the number of visitors to Hong Kong was only 91,000. In the first nine months of this year, the situation has improved. The number of visitors has rebounded to more than 120,000, but it has dropped significantly from the more than 40,000 to 50 million before the epidemic.

In the past, the hotel occupancy rate in Hong Kong was quite high, but the current number of tourists is less than 150,000. In an interview with Hong Kong 01, Legislative Council Member of Tourism Yao Pak-leung also pointed out that the "0+3" "yellow code" mechanism restricts the number of tourists. However, the attraction is greatly diminished. "Not only can't eat, you can't even go to Disney, you can't even go to Disneyland, and you can't go to the Cultural Museum of the Former Officials, so it's not interesting... but it's not for Hong Kong people to travel. Business will improve."

Therefore, with the launch of "0+3", the hotel and catering industry has asked the government to formulate a return to normal route as soon as possible, including the cancellation of most epidemic prevention measures. In hotels without tourists and without government support, "survival" seems to be the top priority.

Yao Boliang believes that the relaxation of the entry quarantine arrangement should be regarded as a "buffer period", and then to be further relaxed to "0+0" in November or earlier. And overseas airlines can plan as soon as possible, transfer flights back to Hong Kong, and reply to Hong Kong's external contacts in an orderly manner.

He suggested that the government should include hotels in the "reverse quarantine" program.

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Yao Boliang: Consider including hotels in the "reverse isolation" plan

During this "buffer period", he suggested that the government include hotels in the "reverse isolation" plan.

The government proposed "reverse isolation" to the mainland at the beginning of the month. It plans to use the Loop near Shenzhen as a pilot project. People who go to the mainland can enter the mainland in a closed-loop manner after completing the isolation in the loop.

Yao Boliang believes that quarantine hotels have had enough experience in the past two years to deal with quarantine, isolation and pick-up arrangements. He suggested that on the one hand, it can help the business of the hotel industry, and at the same time, guests will have more choices. (The Hetao District) is handed over to Shenzhen for management. If it is not your SAR government, you have to hire a special person to operate it, and you have to think about the allocation of housing sites. There are several scratches, and there are costs, and the (government) costs are expensive every minute. Go through the hotel and do it.”

0+3|General Chamber of Commerce Leung Shau Kee: Hope to promote 0+0 as soon as possible to attract activities to return, but it is expected that 10% of them will not return Chinachem Cai Hongxing: 0+3 will help speed up economic recovery and advocate relaxation of the property market 0+3|Nomura points to measures to respond to enterprises It is expected that the mainland will maintain a dynamic clearing after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Catering chambers worry about 0+3 Cut local consumption, intensify business closures, layoffs call for relaxation of epidemic prevention restrictions

Source: hk1

All news articles on 2022-09-28

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