Tourism trade not hopeful of quick boost to business
A tourism sector representative said on Tuesday that he expects only a handful of tour groups to come to Hong Kong from the mainland during the Lunar New Year holiday.  Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui said it may take some time for eased border restrictions to boost the SAR's economy because mainlanders are mostly focused on planning trips in the spring.  "So with only around ten days left until the Lunar New Year, there should be just a few visiting tour groups a day from the mainland," Chui said on an RTHK programme. "Maybe it will take until March or even later for us to see a growth in the number of visiting tour groups." Chui said he hasn't heard of any tours to Hong Kong for Covid vaccines, but he expects some well-off individuals to come to the territory to get the BioNTech jab. Meanwhile, the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners said the resumption of quarantine-free travel with the mainland has resulted in more enquiries, but not bookings. "There are clearly a lot more enquiries. But there is around a ten percent rise in bookings, not by a lot, as expected," said Winnie Chan, the federation's association manager. "It's still early days, perhaps people are still only planning their trips. The Covid situation now on the mainland is rather serious, people can't travel yet. But we hope things will pick up gradually." Chan said hotels have adjusted their charges slightly ahead of the holiday, but not by a lot as demand isn't that high.