Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Apr 26, 2024

Grim outlook for travel agencies as 71 fold, with ‘worst to come’

Covid-19 leaves stricken travel companies relying on government subsidies, savings to get by.
The Covid-19 pandemic, which has halted international trips, took its toll on 71 Hong Kong travel agents this year, but the industry regulator has warned that the worst is yet to come.

“The outlook is most gloomy for travel agents,” said Alice Chan Cheung Lok-yee, executive director of the Travel Industry Council, which issues licences to agents. “Who can survive a zero-income situation for such a long period?”

The companies closing between January and the middle of last month joined about 100 which shut down last year, after tourism took a hit from months of anti-government protests in the city.

Chan told the Post that there were 1,723 travel agents still in business at the middle of September, compared to about 1,900 at the start of last year. “We expect more close down towards the end of the year,” she said.

This was because the government has said its HK$81 billion wage subsidy scheme meant to preserve jobs would not be extended beyond September.

“Many travel agents have been surviving on the subsidy, their own savings and even from selling their properties,” Chan said.

Each travel agent who qualified received HK$80,000 through the government’s anti-pandemic subsidy.

The Covid-19 crisis has wreaked havoc on tourism since February. All but three of Hong Kong’s border checkpoints have closed, with no indication of when they will reopen.

The number of visitors dried up as all but essential workers from mainland China, Macau and Taiwan are required to spend 14 days in compulsory quarantine in a hotel or at home.

Non-Hong Kong residents arriving by plane are denied entry in most circumstances.

As a result, visitor arrivals dived 99.9 per cent to fewer than 4,500 people in August and 92 per cent to 3.54 million in the first eight months of the year, compared with the same period last year.

Chan said tour agents had been hit by cash-flow problems. Those depending on inbound travellers have been crippled since the second half of last year, when the social unrest put off mainlanders from coming.

Travel agents relying mainly on outbound business have seen their tours cancelled through most of this year because of the pandemic.

More woes have surfaced recently for some companies.

Sun Flower, one of the city’s biggest tour agents which has been in business for 46 years and has about 10 branches, was sued on September 28 by a supplier for HK$3.27 million in unpaid fees.

The plaintiff, a South Korean company offering travel services for visitors including from Hong Kong, claims it has not been paid for services provided between last November and February this year.

In a statement, Sun Flower said it hoped to settle the dispute and carry on despite the unprecedented challenges brought on by the pandemic.

Also on September 28, Eastrip Travel and Wee Travel were the subject of separate wind-up petitions by Creditor Bank of East Asia. Eastrip went bust in April, reportedly affecting about 360 customers who had paid HK$5 million for air tickets and tour packages.

Wee Travel’s licence was cancelled in March when it folded, affecting about 1,000 travellers and involving about HK$6 million worth of tickets and tours.
Freddy Yip Hing-ning, president of the Hong Kong Travel Agent Owners Association, urged the government to relax social-distancing rules so that travel agents could resume tours for local groups.

The current rule restricting public gatherings to no more than four people should be relaxed to allow group outings of 30, he said.

Yip, who runs 31-year-old Goldjoy Holidays, said the tours for locals would “at least throw a lifeline to the dying industry”.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×