Government must stop forcing visitors to jump through hoops if it hopes to revive economy
As the end of the pandemic draws near, major regional economies such as Singapore and South Korea are already resuming normality. Given that Hong Kong has one of the highest vaccination rates among Asian economies, we too should be focusing on how to take advantage of the post-Covid boom in travel to revive the economy and give those working in the food, retail and tourism sectors their livelihoods back.
Since the relaxation of travel restrictions on April 1, the number of inbound passengers to Hong Kong has increased fourfold. Meanwhile, the proportion of imported cases has, paradoxically, dropped from about 3 per cent of all cases in January to March to about 1 per cent since last month. It is evident the risk of reopening is manageable as long as sensible measures are in place.
Everyone in the tourism, hotel and retail sectors eagerly looks forward to tourists visiting Hong Kong again. We cannot rely solely on local consumption for survival, even in the near term. Tourists are always impressed by Hong Kong’s vibrancy, efficiency and neatness. It is time to show the world Hong Kong is back in business.
First and foremost, we should give visitors an excellent first impression. For the longest time, people flying into Hong Kong had to spend three to four hours at the airport while officials checked their preflight Covid test results and quarantine hotel bookings, and then carried out another round of testing. Such hassle is totally unacceptable and hurts Hong Kong’s image as an international city.
Before we can fully open, government should do what it takes to make things as smooth as possible for visitors and returnees. The civil servants deployed to oversee the various stages of the airport’s complicated quarantine process should try to walk in the shoes of the passengers. If there are not enough personnel at the airport, perhaps we should send mid-ranking bureaucrats to the front line to do some real work, so they can see for themselves the unwelcoming situation that awaits arrivals.
Most importantly, the route-specific flight suspension mechanism is still too stringent. This just creates too much uncertainty for anyone planning a trip, especially for the non-residents permitted to travel here from May 1. We should punish the individuals who violate our public health regulations, not the airlines that have limited control over their passengers.
Ryan Lin, Mei Foo