Tourism-related Relief Measures that Have Been Announced
Tourism-related Relief Measures that Have Been Announced
The Anti-Epidemic Fund issued HK$80,000 in cash assistance to licensed travel agents and HK$50,000 to HK$80,000 of cash assistance to guesthouses
The Budget has proposed a “Special 100% Loan Guarantee” under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme
The Budget has allocated HK$791 million for the HKTB, of which HK$288 million will be used to fortify the support for the industry to explore business opportunities, restore customer sources, and strengthen the promotion of MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tourism and cruise tourism
The Li Ka Shing Foundation provides HK$50,000 cash assistance to eligible travel agents
Many banks launched more favorable lending interest rates
The Government has allocated about 50,000 feet2 of government land at the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals for the parking of idling, non-franchised buses. Parking spaces in other government lands are still being sought
Exempted the license fees for travel agents, hotels, and hostels for 2019 - 20
Refunded the TIC (Travel Industry Council) membership fee for 2019-20
The Anti-Epidemic Fund has allocated HK$1.02 billion to the "Convention and Exhibition Industry Subsidy Scheme" to subsidize participants of TDC exhibitions and major conferences. The subsidy will also provide full funding for all venue rents to the organizers of exhibitions and international conferences at the Convention Center and AsiaWorld-Expo for a period of one year
"Green Lifestyle Local Tour Incentive Scheme" - A cash incentive of HK$100 will be given to each Hong Kong resident who is eligible to participate in the Green Lifestyle Local Tour. Up to a maximum of 500 tourists will be benefited, the application deadline has extended to 31, Dec, 2020.
"Travel Agents Incentive Scheme" - Based on the number of overnight visitors served by the travel agents, it awards $120 and $100 to each inbound and outbound tourist respectively. With a maximum of 1000 tourists set for each travel agent, the application deadline has extended to 31, Dec, 2020.
The Budget proposed to increase the quota for "Love Upgrading Special Scheme" and raise the allowance from HK$4,000 to HK$5,800
Exempted the registration fee for Mainland inbound tour groups for six months
Exempted the fees for members of the industry to participate in HKTB's trade fairs and travel missions held in the Mainland and overseas.
Waived the renewal fee for the 8,000+ shops under the Quality Tourism Services (QTS) Scheme for one year.
Injected HK$2 billion and HK$1 billion into the "Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (the BUD Fund)" and the "SME Export Marketing Fund" respectively. In both the Mainland programme and Free Trade Agreement programme in the BUD Fund, the subsidy limit for each company will double to HK$2M.
Subsidized social welfare organizations to organize local tourist activities for the disadvantaged groups. A total of $20 million was allocated to the project.
Subsidized electricity charges to eligible non-residential electricity accounts over a four-month period, subject to a cap of $5,000 per month.
To provide timely and direct support to companies across different sectors at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), the Government together with the AA put together a $1 billion package comprising a government waiver of $670 million for Air Traffic Control Charges in 2019/20 for the AA, which will be passed on in full to the airport community, and $330 million in contributions from the AA. The relief package is expected to benefit over 400 companies, including airlines, aviation support and associated passenger services, airport retail tenants and restaurants, and airport staff.
