Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Chairman Dr Pang Yiu-kai has welcomed Hong Kong SAR's decision to lift the compulsory quarantine requirement for inbound travellers from overseas and Taiwan through Hong Kong International Airport.

 

The compulsory quarantine requirement has been removed effective from Monday (September 26).

 

Dr Pang said: "The new arrangements mark Hong Kong’s re-opening as a tourism gateway with significant international connections. This is expected to initially attract mainly business travellers, family visitors and returning Hong Kong residents. In addition, travellers are no longer required to take a PCR test before boarding flights to Hong Kong, and upon arrival, they can head directly to their home or chosen hotel to await the test results. The new arrangements will allow greater convenience and flexibility for travellers.

 

“The application of the ‘Come2HK’ scheme to all Mainland and Macau visitors and the removal of quotas for the scheme will also facilitate Mainland travellers to visit Hong Kong, especially business travellers and family visitors,” Dr Pang said. 

 

The HKTB has been actively planning to revive the tourism industry and will launch various initiatives in a timely manner, working with the government, the tourism industry and related sectors, to drive the recovery of Hong Kong tourism.

 

The HK government had announced that starting September 26, the boarding requirements and quarantine arrangements for inbound persons from overseas places or Taiwan will be adjusted as follows:

* Presentation of a negative nucleic acid testing report prior to boarding will no longer be required. Instead, a declaration of the negative result of a self-arranged rapid antigen test (RAT) conducted within 24 hours prior to the scheduled time of departure should be made via the online Health & Quarantine Information Declaration of the Department of Health.

* Boarding requirement of having completed vaccination for Hong Kong residents will be lifted. Non-Hong Kong residents aged 12 or above will still be required to be fully vaccinated or have obtained a medical exemption certificate before they are allowed to board a flight for Hong Kong.

* "Test-and-go" arrangement will be implemented at the Hong Kong International Airport, i.e. inbound persons will not be required to wait for the test result at the airport after undergoing specimen collection for the nucleic acid test. They can take public transport or self-arranged transport to return to their home or their hotel of choice.

* Quarantine arrangement upon arrival at Hong Kong will be changed to "0+3", i.e. no compulsory quarantine will be required. There will be three days of medical surveillance during which inbound persons are free to go out but are obliged to comply with Amber Code restrictions under the Vaccine Pass, followed by a four-day self-monitoring period, making it a 7-day observation period in total.

* Nucleic acid tests at community testing centres, mobile testing stations or other recognised institutions on Day 2, Day 4 and Day 6 (the day of arrival is Day 0) will be required upon arrival at Hong Kong, supplemented by daily RATs from Day 1 to Day 7.

* For inbound persons who are tested positive by nucleic acid tests or RATs, their Vaccine Pass will be converted to a Red Code. Their isolation arrangements will be aligned with that for local cases. - TradeArabia News Service