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Denise Tsang

Laura Westbrook

Rachel Yeo

Cathay Pacific Airways has fired the first shot of Hong Kong’s much-awaited campaign to give away at least 500,000 airline tickets to boost tourism by offering 80,000 free return flights to people in Southeast Asian countries from March 1.
Hong Kong’s flagship carrier on Friday said it would offer round-trip tickets to residents across Southeast Asia starting with Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines on March 1, 2 and 3 respectively, followed by Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia in stages two weeks later.
Winners will be announced between March 17 and April 5.
Hello Hong Kong: how do I get free airline tickets and what else is on offer?
There will be 17,400 round-trip economy-class tickets to Hong Kong from Thailand, 12,500 from Singapore, and 20,400 from the Philippines. For Indonesia, there will be 11,510 tickets, with 7,000 for Malaysia, 8,800 for Vietnam and 2,390 for those travelling from Cambodia.
Only residents of these countries are allowed to join. To be eligible, they are required to sign up for free membership on Cathay’s website, then use these details to answer three questions correctly. A member is allowed to submit one entry only.
“As part of the relief package for Hong Kong’s aviation industry during the pandemic, the Airport Authority Hong Kong provided liquidity support to the home-based carriers in 2020 by sponsoring air tickets in advance,” the authority’s chief operating officer Vivian Cheung Kar-fay said.
“The air tickets will be used to promote traffic recovery when the pandemic subsides.”


The tickets giveaway forms a key part of the “Hello Hong Kong” campaign to reboot tourism which was dealt a heavy blow by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past three years. The campaign, expected to last six to nine months, aims to bring in 1.5 million visitors.
Cathay, its budget unit HK Express, Greater Bay Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines were mandated to distribute the free tickets.
Hong Kong Airlines will roll out 6,000 round-trip tickets to Hong Kong from Bangkok, Hanoi and Manila from March 1. Under a “Click and Go” banner on its website, the carrier said there was a limited quantity of tickets which would be issued on a first come, first served basis.
HK Express will reveal details of its free tickets from April, focusing primarily on the mainland China and Greater Bay Area market. GBA said it would give out round-trip tickets starting from May from Taipei, then Seoul in July, without mentioning how many would be offered.

Leslie Lai, a 26-year-old programme executive from Singapore, said she became interested in the lucky draw after reading news about the offer. Having been to Hong Kong once in 2010, Lai said she planned to sign up, but admitted she did not have high hopes of winning.
“There will probably be many others entering the competition,” she said.
Hong Kong residents have not been left out in the cold. The authority earlier said 80,000 free tickets would be allocated to locals while another 80,000 would be given to Greater Bay Area visitors.
Meanwhile, in another sign of the city returning to normality, the iconic bun scrambling festival on Cheung Chau will return in May for the first time in three years.
The government revealed that the finale of the Bun Carnival would be held at the scenic outlying island on the night of May 26, with recruitment of candidates to begin on Monday.
The chosen bun: man on verge of winning scramble’s ‘King of Kings’
The event used to attract tens of thousands of visitors, who thronged the island to witness climbers scale a bamboo tower decorated with white plastic buns. The buns earn the competitors points, with those nearest the top scoring highest.
The climber with the highest score within a stipulated time limit wins the finale.
The festival used to accompany the piu sik, or “floating colour” parade, with children dressing up as famous city figures and carried down the island’s main street on stools.
The activities mark part of a traditional Taoist Chinese practice dating back to the late Qing dynasty, held annually to honour the God of the Sea.
The bun festival was last held in 2020 after the pandemic emerged.

But Annie Fonda, executive director of the Travel Industry Authority, said she believed the festival would not attract many foreigners this year.
“At the moment, we have inbound tourists coming to Hong Kong, but I don’t know whether there will be a lot of [them] going to that function, the event is quite localised even though it is quite exciting,” she said.
“Maybe it will attract a portion of tourists, but mainly it is locals [who will attend].”
The authority said that since quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and the mainland fully resumed earlier this month, about 200 tour groups from across the border had visited the city, of which about 40 per cent were for shopping.
Shops involved in receiving tour groups must register with the authority in advance. Authority chairman Ma Ho-fai said 30 such shops had registered before the pandemic hit, of which about 20 per cent had resumed business.


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Cathay Pacific to give away 80,000 return flights from Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia as part of ‘Hello Hong Kong’ campaign

Cathay Pacific’s ticket giveaway will start on March 1. Photo: Jelly Tse

Contestants on the bun tower in a 2019 event. Photo: Winson Wong

A girl dressed up for the piu sik parade in 2019 on Cheung Chau, presumably as then chief executive Carrie Lam. Photo: Winson Wong

Hong Kong man Jason Kwok crowned first ‘King of Kings’ after winning Cheung Chau Bun Festival scramble for third year in a row

Some 9,000 plastic buns covered the 14-metre-high bamboo tower. Photo: Winson Wong

A girl is dressed up during The Piu Sik parade, one of the highlights of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival in Cheung Chau. 12May19. Photo: SCMP/Winson Wong

A child is dressed up during The Piu Sik parade, one of the highlights of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival in Cheung Chau. 12May19. Photo: SCMP/Winson Wong

Competitors grabbing buns on a bun tower at the 2019 Bun Scrambling Competition in Cheung Chau. 13MAY19 SCMP / Winson Wong

Janet Kung and Jason Kwok scooped the prizes on Cheung Chau. Photo: Winson Wong

Hong Kong’s Cheung Chau Bun Festival qualifiers throw up a shock as five-time champion comes unstuck and fails to make it through to May’s finals

Participants compete in the bun scrambling competition qualifiers in Cheung Chau on Sunday. Photo: Winson Wong

Participant Kung Tsz-shan (left) takes a selfie during the Bun Scrambling Competition Selection Contest, ahead of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, photographed in Cheung Chau. 21APR19 SCMP / Winson Wong

Participants competing in the Bun Scrambling Competition Selection Contest, ahead of the Cheung Chau Bun Festival, photographed in Cheung Chau. 21APR19 SCMP / Winson Wong

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Carrier says it will offer round-trip tickets to residents across Southeast Asia starting with Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines
That will be followed by Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia in stages two weeks later


Carrier says it will first offer round-trip tickets to residents across Southeast Asia starting with Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.


Living heritage of Hong Kong

HK Express

Cathay Pacific to give away 80,000 return flights from Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia as part of ‘Hello Hong Kong’ campaign

Carrier says it will offer round-trip tickets to residents across Southeast Asia starting with Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines That will be followed by Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia in stages two weeks later

Carrier says it will offer round-trip tickets to residents across Southeast Asia starting with Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines

That will be followed by Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia in stages two weeks later