Hong Kong airport to give away 24,000 air tickets to Korean travelers

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) will give away over 24,000 sponsored economy-class round-trip tickets to travelers in Korea starting May 16, as part of a government campaign to boost tourism after the pandemic, the airport authority announced, Thursday. "Hong Kong has fully opened up to travel, and we at Hong Kong airport are excited to welcome visitors from around the world once again," said Vivian Cheung, COO of Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) during a press conference in Seoul, Thursday. The promotion is part of the Hong Kong government's Hello Hong Kong campaign and the AAHK's World of Winners global air ticket campaign, in which a total of 500,000 free tickets are being distributed around the world. The city aims to attract over 1.5m inbound travelers after three years of travel restrictions that were imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each country's share in the ticket giveaway scheme is proportional to the number of pre-pandemic travelers that they had back in 2019. Korea's share is 5%, which is relatively higher than that of other countries such as 1 to 2%, according to Cheung. In 2019, Hong Kong saw around 1.2m travelers from Korea, which is the third largest amount after China and Taiwan.<br/>