Hello, Hong Kong: 1-for-1 air tickets on sale at tour agencies from April 1

SINGAPORE – If you had missed your chance at getting free air tickets to Hong Kong Cathay Pacific’s earlier giveaway, you now have an opportunity to snag tickets from the airline on the cheap.

At least six local tour agencies are kicking off a “buy one, get one free” air ticket promotion to the special administrative region on Saturday. The promotion will run for a month, or until their allotment of tickets runs out.

As with Cathay Pacific’s giveaway in early March, tickets in the upcoming promotion exclude costs such as airport taxes and travel insurance.

Participating tour agencies include SA Tours, Nam Ho Travel, Chan Brothers Travel, CTC Travel, EU Holidays and ASA Holidays.

Some tour agencies told The Straits Times they will each offer between 200 and 300 tickets for sale on a first come, first served basis. The tickets can be bundled with package tours.

Citing a number of interested callers, Nam Ho Travel marketing director Mandy Ooi said: “With marketing campaigns by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) and travel agents, the Hong Kong tourism industry will definitely pick up in numbers.”

All 12,500 free round-trip tickets to Hong Kong released by Cathay Pacific on March 2 were snapped up in Singapore within an hour, bringing a quick end to what was supposed to be a seven-day giveaway. Those hoping to get the tickets had faced hour-long waits at the start of the giveaway.

ST has contacted Cathay Pacific for more information.

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Ms Samantha Tan, a marketing communications executive at Chan Brothers Travel, said: “Hong Kong had been a popular short-haul destination for Singaporeans before the pandemic. It has a modern cityscape, bustling markets, ancient temples, affordable street food, high-end restaurants, good public transportation and the relative familiarity of it being an urban metropolis like Singapore.”

She added: “It is also a shopper’s paradise and there are two iconic theme parks, Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park Hong Kong, which appeal to families with children.”

According to the HKTB, Hong Kong had a provisional visitor arrival of 1.462 million in February, which is triple of that in January.

This was the first time the figure has exceeded one million since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in February 2020, and is equivalent to about 30 per cent of that before the pandemic, according to HKTB.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.