Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, June 8th: Qiu Tenghua, director of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, said on the 8th that the Hong Kong Ocean Park will reopen on June 13 and the Hong Kong Book Fair will be held from July 15 to 21 as scheduled.
When attending the media briefing, Qiu Tenghua stated that as the epidemic eased, economic and trade promotion and tourism activities in Hong Kong will be launched as soon as possible. Hong Kong Disneyland and Hong Kong Ocean Park will reopen in a short period of time, and will strengthen epidemic prevention and management in the park. In addition, the SAR Government will allocate 40 million Hong Kong dollars to the Epidemic Prevention and Anti-epidemic Fund to fund all local exhibitors at the Hong Kong Book Fair.
In terms of economic and trade activities, Qiu Tenghua said that the SAR government will provide subsidies to encourage the industry to participate in a series of economic and trade and exhibition activities in the second half of the year. The SAR government will also discuss with trade partners to start economic and trade activities, and will take the lead in bilateral discussions with Thailand at the end of the month.
In terms of tourism, Qiu Tenghua said that the "Green Living Local Tour Plan" will be overweight, and the Environment Bureau's subsidy will increase to 100 million Hong Kong dollars. The Tourism Development Board will also launch a plan next week to vigorously promote local tourism and provide discounts and different programs.
Hong Kong Ocean Park said on the same day that it will strengthen the cleaning and disinfection of park attractions, motor games and facilities. All visitors and employees are required to measure body temperature and wear masks before entering the park. During the first two weeks of operation, the park's overall passenger capacity will be reduced to a quarter, and then gradually increased to half. Citizens also need to make an appointment through the online system to ensure that the park's flow of people is less than the upper limit.
Li Shengzong, Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Park Hong Kong, said that due to the continuing epidemic situation around the world, the market environment is expected to continue to be severe in the short term, and the park must continue to adopt prudent cost control measures in order to maintain the park's best operating conditions with limited resources.