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Hong Kong tourism News: 2022-9-2
Source from South China Morning Post 2022-9-2
Coronavirus: ‘reverse quarantine’ scheme may not bring much relief for Hong Kong travellers crossing border to mainland, say businesses and NGOs
The minimum seven-day quarantine in the city remains a big deterrent, says NGO deputy directorCity leader John Lee says he has secured backing from mainland authorities for the proposed scheme, to be implemented as soon as possible
Chief Executive John Lee has said he had secured the backing of mainland authorities for the new “reverse quarantine” scheme. Photo: K. Y. Cheng
The new “reverse quarantine” arrangement planned by Hong Kong authorities may not provide much-needed relief to travellers heading to mainland China, businesses and NGOs have said, calling instead for sufficient quota slots and the isolation duration to be shortened.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Thursday he had secured the backing of mainland authorities for the new scheme, allowing travellers to undergo Covid-19 isolation in the city before crossing the border.
Under the proposal, a local makeshift Covid-19 treatment facility at the Lok Ma Chau Loop, an area near the border, could be used to quarantine travellers. A government source said a few thousand places at the centre could be set aside initially for this purpose.
Lee said the arrangement would be implemented as soon as possible but did not give a date.
The source said undergoing quarantine on the Hong Kong side would not be free, but would definitely be affordable for the public.
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Currently, travellers who cross the border must quarantine in a mainland hotel for seven days, followed by three days of home surveillance. To cross the land border into Shenzhen, they need to take part in a lottery for one of 2,000 daily quota slots.
Under the new plan, the source said people would need to spend at least seven days in the reverse quarantine unit, while authorities would sort out how to comply with the three-day “home surveillance”.
Sze Lai-shan, deputy director of the Society for Community Organisation, estimated several tens of thousands of people needed to travel across the border, including those who had to visit sick family members or handle paperwork for them to settle in the city.
She said many were discouraged from making the trips due to the cost of hotel isolation on the mainland and the long quarantine duration. There were also some who could not secure one of the limited daily quota slots.
Sze said she believed the new arrangement could help if quarantine was made free to alleviate financial pressure, and suggested a daily quota of 10,000 to meet the demand.
But she added the long isolation duration would remain a major deterrent to cross-border travel.
People heading to mainland China queue at Shenzhen Bay Port. Photo: Dickson Lee
Auditor Tonny Wong, 33, founder of accounting firm Linksfield, has not been to Shenzhen since he returned to Hong Kong in February last year.
Before the pandemic, he sent Hong Kong-based staff across the border to undertake audits for mainland-based companies listed in the city. But the years-long border closure has forced him to change his operation model.
“The reverse quarantine arrangement is meaningless because we have employed local auditors for mainland companies. We no longer send our Hong Kong colleagues across the border,” he said.
Calvin Chau Ka-wang, president of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Small and Medium Business, said he doubted the new arrangement would be effective, even with the little convenience it might bring.
“For us, time is money. But the arrangement is not saving any time,” he said.
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Principal Chu Wai-lam, vice-chairman of the New Territories School Heads Association, said the measure would not be helpful to cross-border pupils who lived on the mainland and needed to make daily trips to Hong Kong to attend classes.
He said his school in Sheung Shui had about 300 students who were unable to attend in-person classes since the border closed, and had relied on online studying.
Chu said about 4,300 cross-border pupils attended primary schools in North district.
“The new arrangement will not help our cross-border pupils at all,” said Chu, principal of Fung Kai No 1 Primary School.
Fung Kai No 1 Primary School has about 300 cross-border pupils. Photo: Sam Tsang
Chu suggested arranging closed-loop management for the students, which would involve arranging vehicles to transport them between Shenzhen and Hong Kong and allowing them to only be in schools in between, or letting them stay in a holiday camp in the city and having people look after them there.
However, he said the ultimate solution remained quarantine-free travel across the border.
Despite calls for more to be done, the new arrangement still provides relief for some.
Mainlander Tao, 46, said she was eager to travel across the border to visit her parents and two brothers as soon as the new measure was launched.
A community isolation facility for Covid-19 is set up at Lok Ma Chau Loop. Photo: May Tse
Tao, who asked to be identified by her surname only, said she used to return to her hometown in Chongqing every year before the pandemic hit.
But the cost of hotel quarantine on the mainland had discouraged her from making such trips for about three years until June, she said, when she was required to travel to her hometown to process her approved one-way permit before it expired. Tao returned to Hong Kong last month.
She said she failed to secure one of the daily 2,000 slots, and had resorted to travelling by air. The flight ticket and the two-week hotel quarantine on the mainland cost her more than HK$10,000 (US$1,274).
“The new arrangement will save me some money, and I don’t have to compete for one of the limited slots,” she said. “I want to visit my mum, who recently injured her leg, my dad and my brothers.”
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History Of BusPro
Bus Rental Company in Hong Kong
If you’re interested in learning more about BusPro, the bus rental company in Hong Kong, you’ve come to the right place!
Hong Kong BUSPRO offers tourist bus services to its customers. It is a non-franchised bus company in Hong Kong known for providing reliable, straightforward, and convenient tourist bus rental services. It also stands as the sole company in Hong Kong that produces monthly themed posters and monthly update magazines (Blog) as part of its local tour bus rental services. Our parent company is Kinson Transportation Co., Ltd, which was established in Hong Kong in 1980.
The distinguishing feature of BusPro’s buses is their white background color and a horizontal pattern known as the “Airplane Pattern,” with green and light colors as the main theme. This pattern was popular among tourist buses in the early 1970s and continues to be used today.
1981-1990s
Kinson Transportation Company was officially founded in 1980, starting with just one Ford single-deck coach with a Huang Ming body, commonly referred to as a “single head car.” This coach had a license plate with the number CM788, featured 50 seats arranged in a 3+2 configuration, and primarily served the Radar electronics factory and the YARN factory in Lei Yue Men Industrial Village. The shifts included departures at 07:00, 15:00, and 22:00, with only one driver typically managing the operations.
1970s Huang Ming Bus Body
By 1986, the primary service expanded to include shuttle services for the Tai Mei Tuk Dam site. The fleet also grew to include six Ford 50-seater buses and one Nissan 17-seat private minibus.
1991–2000s
In the early 1990s, Kinson also served the Tai Po Yongnan Food and Kangli Electronics Factory. However, with the development of Hong Kong’s population, the British Hong Kong government set out to develop the new town of Tin Shui Wai.
In the early 1990s, Kinson extended its services to Tai Po Yongnan Food and Kangli Electronics Factory. As Hong Kong’s population continued to grow, the British Hong Kong government embarked on the development of the new town of Tin Shui Wai.
Tin Shui Wai
We followed the trend and expanded into northwestern Hong Kong. During this time, the demand for school buses in many primary and secondary schools in Tin Shui Wai increased significantly. Kinson played a crucial role in the early 1990s and has remained entrenched in the northwestern New Territories. The primary and secondary schools served by the company included Queen Elizabeth Old Students’ Association Primary School, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Yao Dazhi Memorial Primary School (Yuen Long), Hong Kong Management Association Lo Kwai Cheung Secondary School, Tin Shui Wai Catholic Primary School, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Li Donghai Primary School, and more.
Queen Elizabeth Old Students’ Association Primary School 1990 Jit Luen Body
During this period, bus seats typically ranged from 56 to 61 seats. The dominance of Huang Ming’s body factory declined, making way for emerging manufacturers like Jit Luen Auto Body, China-Hong Kong Body Factory, New Asia, and Asian body factories. Isuzu became the dominant player, featuring a 6-speed front engine with a single main engine. Air-conditioning engines had independent fuel tanks and radiators.
2001–2010
In the late 1990s, the light rail network connecting Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai, and Tuen Mun in the northwest of the New Territories matured. Starting from 1997, all primary schools in Hong Kong gradually transitioned from part-time to full-time studying. Additionally, the birth rate remained low, resulting in the company’s first period of decreased demand. School children began to use the Light Rail for transportation.
In response to the changing landscape, the concept of main school and branch schools emerged due to the splitting of elementary school classes into morning and afternoon sessions. This led to an unchanged number of school bus passengers but doubled the destinations, posing challenges for school bus dealers. The Atypical pneumonia epidemic in Hong Kong in 2003 further exacerbated the situation. Kinson had to sell some of its vehicles to maintain daily expenses and driver and babysitter salaries.
2000s China Kong Body
By 2005, the surplus of non-franchised buses on the road prompted the Hong Kong government to impose licensing restrictions. This encouraged the passenger bus industry to acquire existing vehicles to fill their fleets. Additionally, many school bus and tour bus dealers were approaching retirement age. From 2005 to 2010, the tour bus industry witnessed a wave of mergers and acquisitions. Despite these challenges, Kinson managed to maintain a presence in the northwest region.
During this time, bus seats transitioned from 56 to 61 seats with a 3+2 seat arrangement. Over the past decade, Isuzu chassis captured a significant share of the Hong Kong tour bus market. However, after 2007, European manufacturers like Scania and Volvo entered the Hong Kong market, alongside Chinese brands such as King Long, Shenlong, and Yutong, delivering chassis and bus bodies together.
2011 to 2020
The financial crisis in mid-2008 had a significant impact on Hong Kong’s economy. In 2009, the central government allowed eligible Shenzhen residents to apply for multiple visits to Hong Kong in one year for “individual travel” endorsements, resulting in a substantial increase in mainland Chinese visitors. With the rise of free travel and flourishing joint infrastructure and real estate projects, there was a growing demand for site shuttle services. Kinson allocated a significant portion of its fleet to meet this demand. Concurrently, the declining number of school children led school bus dealers to transition from 61-seat buses to 27-seat Toyota Coaster, 29-seat Mitsubishi Rosa, and 16-seat school buses to meet the changing demands for school transportation.
16 Seater School Bus
From 2010 to 2018, the travel bus industry thrived, thanks to a substantial increase in mainland tourists. BUSPRO was formally established in 2017 and became a subsidiary of Kinson. However, the anti-amendment campaign in mid-2019 led to a sharp decline in inbound tourists, pushing the tour bus industry into another period of decline. The subsequent New Coronavirus epidemic further affected all businesses in Hong Kong, including the school bus industry.
Since 2010, 65-seat buses had gradually become mainstream. Scania, Regal, Isuzu, Foton, and Daewoo have become the main brands of tour bus discs in the market, and manual gearboxes had gradually been replaced by automatic gearboxes.
2021 – 2024
From 2020 to 2022, due to the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus in 2019, the global tourism industry hit an unprecedented low, and the Hong Kong tourism industry was particularly hard hit. All cross-border buses between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao were suspended.
Then Hong Kong’s reopening process was implemented in stages. Here are the key milestones:
- September 26, 2022: Hong Kong began to relax its border control measures by introducing the “0+3” policy. This meant no hotel quarantine, but travelers were required to undergo self-monitoring for three days and were restricted from entering certain premises.
- August to December 2022: Hong Kong gradually eased its border control measures, eventually implementing the “0+0” policy for overseas arrivals.
- December 28, 2022: The government announced the optimization and removal of most anti-epidemic measures, including the cancellation of the vaccine pass and mandatory nucleic acid testing for arrivals.
- February 6, 2023: Hong Kong and mainland China fully reopened their borders, with all checkpoints operational.
- March 1, 2023: The mandatory mask-wearing requirement was fully lifted, marking a return to normalcy in Hong Kong society.
Source from Perplexity 2025 March
From January 2020 to mid-2023, about 2000 local non-franchised buses were left idle, and nearly 1000 cross-border and local non-franchised buses were parked at the Kwai Chung Terminal. See the figure below for details:
As travel restrictions eased, the inbound visitor toll as below:
- 2021: Due to strict anti-epidemic measures, the number of inbound visitors to Hong Kong was extremely low. Official data indicated that the contribution of tourism to GDP was only 0.1%, and the number of people employed in the sector significantly decreased to about 22,500. The specific number of visitors for that year is not explicitly mentioned in the provided data, but it is known that the number was very small.
- 2022: The total number of visitors for the year was approximately 600,000.
- 2023: As anti-epidemic measures were relaxed, the number of visitors increased significantly. By the end of May 2023, the number of visitors had already reached 9.5 million. The full-year data is not explicitly mentioned in the provided information, but it is clear that the number of visitors increased substantially that year.
- 2024: The number of visitors reached 44.5 million.
Source from perplexity 2025 March
2023 – 2024 were a recovery year for Hong Kong Travel industry, however Hong Kong non-franchise bus license, or so call Bus medallion, The highest value of the bus medallion, was from HKD$3.8 million in 2015, sharply increased to HKD$1 million in 2024. a group of the Bus medallion owners are incapable to pay for his debt, thus some of those buses inevitably were taken by financial institution. and which lead to the shortage of bus services and the hinders of loan granting.
Past partners
- Nishimatsu Construction (Employee Service)
- Union Engineering Co., Ltd.
- Christian Music Road Association Yuen Long Church (student and institution services)
- Chinese Language Institute
- Hong Kong Youth Association
- Christian Hong Kong Lutheran Church Yuen Long Lutheran Secondary School
- Shunde Friendship Association Weng You Middle School
- Hong Kong Christian Church
- Hong Kong Bird Watching Club
- Sau Mau Ping Catholic Primary School
- Christ’s Commission Fellowship Hong Kong
- KinderU Suzuki Music Academy
- Church of Christ in China
- Methodist Center
- Hong Kong Christian Service
- Life Hotline
- Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education
- Huixin Life Adventure Center-Hong Kong Trustees Association
- Queen Elizabeth School Old Students’ Association Secondary School
- Hong Kong Christian Service Pei Oi School
- Christian Evangelical Society Po Ya Nursery School
- Hong Kong Yao Energy Association Jockey Club Tian Qi Ling School
- Cambaron Presbyterian Church Sha Tin Church
- Tin Shui Wai Catholic Primary School
- The Church of Christ in China Liang Fa Memorial Chapel
- St. James’ Settlement
- Environmental touch
- Business Environmental Association Limited
- Hong Kong Women’s Foundation
- Aberdeen Square Club
- Jane Goode Society