Close to 170 mainland Chinese motorists are expected to arrive in Hong Kong on Saturday under an expanded cross-border travel scheme. The Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles scheme now covers nine cities in the Greater Bay Area with a doubled daily quota.
The scheme was extended to Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing from Saturday, bringing the total eligible cities to nine. These include the original four of Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Jiangmen and Zhongshan. The daily quota of urban trips has doubled to 200.
Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said authorities received three times as many applications as the available quota. She noted that 60 per cent of applications came from the five newly added cities. “The response has been very encouraging,” Chan said at the scheme’s launch ceremony at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge.
Hotels in Hong Kong are offering accommodation, dining, shopping and parking packages to attract the visitors.