On 5 May, the "National Administration" resumed the "nationwide application" for group travel endorsements for mainland residents to Hong Kong and Macao. A number of travel agencies said that after the resumption of the new enhancement measures, it will further facilitate group tours in Hong Kong and Macao, including conferences, exhibitions, long-distance group groups or landing tour groups, etc., which will be more convenient, which will help further stimulate the enthusiasm of mainland residents for group travel to Hong Kong and Macao. At present, Hong Kong and Macao tourism is still popular after the May Day Festival, and according to Ctrip's data, the number of orders for Hong Kong and Macao package tours in May increased by about 15% month-on-month. Next, some travel agencies will also actively deploy Hong Kong and Macao tourism routes and joint tour products to further enhance the competitiveness of tourism products and benefit the tourism development of the Greater Bay Area.

The number of orders in May increased by 5% month-on-month

"Now you can apply for a group travel endorsement to Hong Kong and Macao without having to take a residence permit, which is really convenient." Tingting (pseudonym), who lives abroad but has been working in Beijing for two years, made an appointment early in the morning on the Beijing Public Security Entry-Exit WeChat public account to apply for Hong Kong and Macao permits and endorsement services for teams going to Hong Kong and Macao.

The Beijing Business Daily reporter saw on the Beijing Public Security Exit-Entry WeChat public account non-Beijing household registration resident exit and entry document appointment page that the household registration personnel type department has shown that the "national general office (except personal travel and business endorsement)" option has been displayed.

Since the May Day holiday, the demand for tourists to travel to Hong Kong and Macao has been continuously released. According to Ctrip's data, the number of orders for group tours in Hong Kong and Macao in May increased by about 5% compared with April. According to Qunar data, as of May 4, many travelers have booked flights to Hong Kong during the Dragon Boat Festival, and popular departure cities include Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu and Haikou.

"So far, we have operated more than 125 weekly flights between 15 cities in the Mainland and Hong Kong, and our overall capacity has increased by more than 12% compared to the end of December last year." Sun Yueyi, General Manager of Cathay Pacific China, said.

Lin Zhizhuo, head of Ctrip's self-operated Asia region, said that the policy is conducive to people who are not employed in the place where their household registration is located to travel to Hong Kong and Macao, especially for some departure cities with high thresholds for Hong Kong and Macao endorsement, which will greatly ease the endorsement pressure of tourists to Hong Kong and Macao.

"Although group travel by mainland residents to Hong Kong and Macao has resumed, the proportion of group tours in the past few months has not been very high, and this optimization of measures can realize the 'walk away' of mainland residents traveling to Hong Kong and Macao, expand the coverage of customer groups, and more tourists have the possibility to visit Hong Kong and Macao several times a year, which will also greatly stimulate the enthusiasm of non-resident hukou personnel working in the Greater Bay Area to travel to Hong Kong and Macao with groups on weekends and other leisure time." The relevant person in charge of a travel agency in Beijing said.

The resumption of the "national general office" is particularly beneficial to tourists from outside Guangdong Province to travel to the Bay Area. Zhao Wenzhi, chairman and president of Guangzhou Guangzhou Tour International Travel Agency, told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that the most direct benefit brought by the optimization of this measure is to further expand the source of tourists to Hong Kong and Macao, on the one hand, it can better realize the "multi-stop" game of "one trip and multiple stops" in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area including Hong Kong and Macao itineraries, on the other hand, the threshold for non-registered residents in Guangdong to go to Hong Kong and Macao has also been lowered to the minimum. With the further expansion of the scope of visitor sources, the overall scale of tourists to Hong Kong and Macao will gradually recover and increase in the future.

The "Hong Kong and Macao Joint Tour" product is busy

After the release of the good news, many tourism enterprises have begun to update non-stop and increase their layout in Hong Kong and Macao joint travel products.

According to Tuniu's recent data on Hong Kong and Macau tours, Hong Kong and Macau online package tours are widely favored, accounting for 50% of Hong Kong and Macau tours. Among them, the main customer group of the 4-5 day online group tour is tourists from East China; The main customers of the 2-3 day online group tour and the 1-day semi-self-guided tour are local tourists from Guangdong.

Not only online travel platforms, but also travel agency companies are also increasing their layout. "Hong Kong and Macao tourism resources are uniquely attractive, and since the resumption of group tours in Hong Kong and Macao, Hong Kong-Macao joint tour products with high cost performance and experience of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Rail have been the most favored by the public." Zhao Wenzhi continued, "Next, Guangzhou Tour will further develop the 'multi-destination' tourism products in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, effectively integrating intra-Guangdong tourism with Hong Kong and Macao tourism. ”

The relevant staff of Guangdong CTS introduced: "At present, the products of Macao 3-day tour, Hong Kong and Macao 2-day sightseeing tour, Hong Kong independent travel and Macao free travel have been temporarily launched. In the next step, we will strengthen the relationship with suppliers and the Hong Kong and Macao Tourism Bureau, and investigate the new attractions created by Hong Kong and Macao in recent years, make some Hong Kong and Macao joint tour products, and at the same time link the subsidies of Hong Kong and Macao to create cost-effective products to attract customers. ”

Coincidentally, CTS Travel is also updating its tourism resource plans for Hong Kong and Macao respectively. The relevant person in charge of CTS Travel said that in Hong Kong, CTS Travel Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao regional companies will launch more related products around the two major theme parks in Hong Kong; In Macao, more hotel through train package products with dining, entertainment and other content will be launched.

The full resumption of the "National General Administration" for group travel endorsements for Mainland residents to Hong Kong and Macao will further expand the source of visitors to Hong Kong and Macao, and due to the geographical advantages of Hong Kong and Macao, it will further benefit the coordinated and high-quality development of tourism in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Beijing Business Daily reporter Wu Qiyun/Photo by Wen He