Hong Kong: Hong Kong will give away air tickets and vouchers to woo tourists back to the financial hub, racing to catch up with other popular travel destinations in a fierce regional competition.

During the pandemic, the city largely aligned itself with mainland China’s “zero-Covid” strategy and has relaxed its entry rules months slower than Singapore, Japan and Taiwan. Even after it reopened its border with mainland China in January, tourism was sluggish.

On Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee launched a tourism campaign “Hello Hong Kong,” saying the city will offer 500,000 free air tickets to welcome tourists from around the world.

“Hong Kong is now seamlessly connected to the mainland of China and the whole international world and there will be no isolation, no quarantine,” he said at a ceremony.

 - AP