International
oi-PTI
Hong
Kong,
Feb
3:
Travel
between
Hong
Kong
and
China
will
no
longer
require
COVID-19
PCR
tests
nor
be
held
to
a
daily
limit,
authorities
announced
Friday,
as
both
places
seek
to
drive
economic
growth.
Hong
Kong’s
tourism
industry
has
suffered
since
2019
after
months
of
political
strife
that
at
times
turned
into
violent
clashes
between
protesters
and
police,
as
well
as
harsh
entry
restrictions
implemented
during
the
pandemic.
“From
Monday,
there
will
be
a
full
resumption
of
travel
between
Hong
Kong
and
the
mainland,”
Hong
Kong
leader
John
Lee
said
Friday
at
a
news
briefing.
Lee
said
quotas
for
travelers
will
be
scrapped
and
all
boundary
checkpoints
will
reopen
next
week.
World’s
first
nasal
vaccine
for
Covid-19
iNCOVACC
launched
on
Republic
Day
The
announcement
came
a
day
after
Lee
unveiled
a
tourism
campaign
aimed
at
attracting
travelers
to
Hong
Kong
that
includes
500,000
free
air
tickets
for
tourists
to
visit
the
semi-autonomous
Chinese
city.
China
had
already
eased
travel
restrictions
with
Hong
Kong
on
Jan.
8,
dropping
a
mandatory
quarantine
period
required
for
travelers
entering
the
mainland.
However,
the
number
of
travelers
entering
the
mainland
from
Hong
Kong
via
land
checkpoints
was
limited
to
50,000
a
day.
From
Feb.
6,
most
travelers
crossing
the
border
between
mainland
China
and
Hong
Kong
will
no
longer
need
to
present
a
negative
PCR
test
for
COVID-19
prior
to
travel.
Only
those
who
have
traveled
overseas
within
the
past
seven
days
would
be
required
to
produce
their
negative
PCR
result,
Hong
Kong
and
Chinese
authorities
said
Friday.
Both
Hong
Kong
and
mainland
China
were
among
the
last
holdouts
globally
to
keep
entry
restrictions
including
mandatory
quarantine
periods,
even
as
the
rest
of
the
world
began
reopening
their
borders
in
2022.
Why
China
lifted
‘zero
covid’
policy?
To
kill
Tibetans,
says
Voice
Against
Autocracy
report
Hong
Kong
–
a
business
hub
reputed
as
a
popular
city
for
tourists
–
has
seen
its
tourism
industry
battered
over
the
past
three
years.
In
spite
of
China’s
easing
of
entry
restrictions
last
month,
Hong
Kong’s
tourism
industry
has
a
long
road
to
recovery.
In
2022,
nearly
605,000
visitors
came
to
Hong
Kong
–
up
sixfold
from
the
year
before,
but
about
90%
less
than
2019
before
the
pandemic,
which
saw
55.9
million
arrivals.
(AP)
Story first published: Friday, February 3, 2023, 11:44 [IST]
