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Hong Kong residents frequently visit Japan on “revenge trips.” After Tokyo eased travel restrictions, about 10,000 people went there in just one week.
People from Hong Kong are once again finding Japan a popular travel destination. This is because on October 11, the government eased restrictions on travel related to COVID and started allowing independent tourism. At the same time, Hong Kong got rid of hotel quarantines for people who were arriving.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people haven’t been able to leave the territory for almost three years. Japan could benefit from “revenge travel” by Hong Kongers.
“I want to eat Japanese sea urchin, so as soon as I get to Japan, I’ll go straight to Kuromon Ichiba market in Osaka to eat seafood,” said a traveller with the last name of Man, who was at the Hong Kong International Airport on Oct. 11 to fly to Osaka on her first trip outside of Hong Kong in three years. During her six-day trip, she planned to spend 10,000 Hong Kong dollars, which is $1,275.
In the first eight months of this year, only 5,900 people from Hong Kong went to Japan. This is down 99.6% from the same time last year, before the pandemic. But industry estimates show that more than 10,000 Hong Kongers went to Japan in just one week beginning on October 11.
At one point, people almost stopped going to Japan. Now, though, they are going back because Japan and Hong Kong changed their policies. The Japanese government removed the limit on the number of people who could visit each day and started letting individual travellers back in. The Hong Kong government also made it easier for people to visit.
Hong Kong used to make visitors stay in quarantine at certain hotels for up to 21 days, but that rule was taken away in late September. The government has put in place a plan called “0+3,” which only requires international arrivals to be under medical supervision for three days at home or in a hotel of their choice.
According to the travel booking site Klook, which is based in Hong Kong, searches for Japan went up 11 times from the week before after the Japanese government said it would loosen its daily arrival limit. Popular destinations are Tokyo, Osaka, and Okinawa.
People in Hong Kong like Japanese food, and many people have a good impression of Japan because of things like anime. In 2019, before the pandemic, about one-third of Hong Kong’s population, or 2.29 million people, went to Japan.
“We thought about going to South Korea or Thailand, but we decided to go to Japan because we love Japanese culture,” said a man with the last name Ng, who was waiting in line at the counter of the budget airline HK Express to go to Japan with his partner. “There are many places to eat, shop, and have fun in Japan.”
He plans to spend between HK$20,000 and HK$30,000 in 11 days.
Airlines are adding more flights to meet the rising demand for travel from Hong Kong to Japan. Cathay Pacific Airlines, which is based in Hong Kong, will start flying to Haneda Airport every day again in November. In December, there will be four flights a week to Sapporo.
In addition to Narita, Osaka, and Fukuoka, HK Express now goes to Okinawa and Nagoya. “The number of flights to Japan will go up to 50 a week, and then to 120 a week in December,” said Mandy Ng, the CEO.
It looks like Japan Airlines is also taking advantage of Hong Kongers’ desire to travel. “We were inundated with bookings as soon as the Japanese government announced earlier this month that it would loosen travel restrictions,” said Hong Kong branch manager Koji Hayamizu. “Bookings for flights to Japan from October 11 to October 31 jumped by more than 1,400 in two weeks.” “It looks like more than 90% of reservations came from Hong Kong, and business class is also selling well.”
Airlines are adding flights quickly, but some experts think that is not enough to meet the rising demand. “There aren’t enough flights to Japan, and Hong Kongers are fighting over airline tickets to Tokyo and Osaka,” said Timothy Chui, the head of the Hong Kong Tourism Association. During the Christmas season, round-trip coach tickets between Hong Kong and Japan cost between HK$18,000 and HK$20,000.
Due to restructuring, Cathay is having trouble finding pilots and flight attendants. The airline has started looking for about 4,000 new employees, with half of them being flight attendants.
But Cathay only pays its flight attendants a base salary of HK$9,100 per month. Some people in the industry say it will be hard for Cathay to hire experienced flight attendants with salaries that are the same as those for new hires at other airlines.
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