2024-01-14 11:30:00
After Hong Kong lifted its epidemic prevention and control measures last year, the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong has not returned to pre-epidemic levels. Local public opinion has proposed reinstating the “one visa, multiple travel” measure for Shenzhen residents to attract Shenzhen residents to go south for consumption and activate Hong Kong’s economy.
“One visa, multiple travels” refers to a visa that can be used multiple times within the validity period; on the contrary, it is a single-entry visa that can only be used once, also known as “one visa, one travel”. Holders of the “One Visa, Multiple Travel” visa can apply for multiple border entry and exit rights at one time, which is more convenient than the “One Visa, One Travel” visa.
Starting from 2009, Shenzhen residents can apply for a “single visa, multiple travel” visa to travel to Hong Kong. However, due to problems such as the impact of parallel traders on Hong Kong society, mainland China stopped the relevant policy in 2015 and instead issued a “one trip per week” endorsement.
In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Huang Guoquan (56 years old), who is engaged in the catering business in Hong Kong, said that some travel agencies, restaurants and shop experts who deal with tourists have reported that their business has been in a slump due to insufficient tourist numbers and spending power. Dilemma.
Taking the catering industry as an example, Huang Guoquan said that after the inland port was fully reopened last year, there were fewer tourists coming to Hong Kong. In addition, the performance of the Hong Kong stock market was not ideal, and many Hong Kong people had low consumption intentions, resulting in poor business in the catering industry. Among them, those taking the mid-range route Restaurants have the biggest impact.
He expressed the hope that the mainland Chinese government would reintroduce the “one visa, multiple travel” policy. “In the past, customers from Shenzhen came to Hong Kong specifically, ate at my restaurant, and then returned to Shenzhen that night. If more mainlanders come to Hong Kong, it will definitely be good for us. business helps.”
In the past year, Hong Kong’s economy has not performed as expected after the lifting of epidemic prevention and control measures. More and more Hong Kong people hope to restore the “one visa, multiple travels” policy. The Hong Kong Department Store and Commercial Employees Federation interviewed 392 members through an online questionnaire from the 28th of last month to the 5th of this month. The results found that 28.1% and 41.3% of the respondents respectively expressed strong support and support for the re-registration of Shenzhen residents with “one visa, multiple lines”.
The survey also showed that 60.8% of the respondents believed that the resumption of the “one visa, multiple travel” policy could help Hong Kong’s retail industry, and 65.8% supported extending the measure to other areas in the Greater Bay Area.
Chung Bowen, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Department Store and Commercial Employees Federation, attended a TV program on Thursday (January 11) and pointed out that if the “one visa, multiple lines” can be re-introduced, there will be more tourists, which will be helpful to Hong Kong’s retail industry.
Hong Kong’s “Ming Pao” reported in early January that Hong Kong Chief Executive Lee Ka-chiu proposed three measures to the central government during his official briefing in Beijing at the end of last year, including increasing the number of cities for independent travel, restoring the “one visa for multiple travels”, and increasing the number of people visiting Hong Kong from the mainland. The tax exemption for tourists is expected to boost Hong Kong’s internal consumption.
Hong Kong Legislative Council member Tian Beichen revealed on Wednesday (January 10) that Hong Kong and the mainland are discussing to re-launch the “one visa, multiple travel” before the Lunar New Year. At this stage, they are mainly studying the scope of Shenzhen’s opening, that is, whether it will only be opened to Shenzhen residents. , or the population living in Shenzhen. He estimated that the next step would be to review the situation and consider whether to expand the “one visa, multiple travel” program to other Greater Bay Area cities.
Data from the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Statistics show that at the end of 2022, the local registered population was 5.8 million, and the permanent population reached 17.66 million. Tian Beichen believes that “one visa, multiple travels” can make same-day travel more common and offset the impact of Hong Kong people’s consumption northward on the Hong Kong economy.
However, Hong Kong’s Hong Kong Economic Journal quoted an insider as saying on Thursday that the mainland would not accept all of Hong Kong’s demands because the current consumer sentiment in the mainland is also not good. Having fun will have side effects on the local economy; the mainland government is well aware that Shenzhen has recently enjoyed the consumption dividends of Hong Kong residents traveling north, so it is willing to restart the “one visa, multiple lines” system for residents registered in Shenzhen out of the principles of morality and fairness. As for whether the policy will be extended to Shenzhen residents or even the entire Greater Bay Area, it depends on the influence of the Hong Kong government.
In fact, Hong Kong society also has doubts about the effectiveness of the re-implementation of “one visa, multiple travels”. Zhong Bowen believes that the resumption of “one visa, multiple travel” and the expansion of applicable cities can increase the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong. However, the retail format in mainland China has changed, with more online shopping, live broadcasts, etc., coupled with factors such as price and experience, ” The economic effects brought about by “one signature for multiple lines” may not be as good as before.
He pointed out that the Hong Kong government and Hong Kong enterprises need to think about how to provide differentiation in tourism experience, community characteristics and product quality to attract tourists to Hong Kong again.
Gao Weiwei, councilor of the North District of Hong Kong, which is adjacent to Shenzhen, believes that parallel importers have decreased in recent years. If the “one visa, multiple lines” policy is re-introduced, he believes that the problem of parallel importers will not reoccur, but the problem of insufficient transportation facilities will arise.
Gao Weiwei said that the current visit of mainland tourists to Hong Kong has caused traffic congestion in Sheung Shui, New Territories, during peak hours. The increase in tourists may affect traffic. He suggested that the authorities provide adequate supporting facilities and take into account the traffic carrying capacity to avoid too many tourists and affect the lives of residents.
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