HONG KONG: Many Hong Kong travellers are raring to go, according to a recent survey by online travel agency Expedia, with 79% of respondents in the city planning to venture overseas before the end of September.
Fifty-one percent of respondents said they had already made a booking.
The survey, conducted in June, canvassed 1,000 Hong Kongers aged between 18 and 45 who had travelled abroad for leisure at least once in the past three years - an admittedly very select group, given Covid-19 restrictions for most of that period.
Lavinia Rajaram, Asia head of public relations for Expedia, said a similar study conducted by the company in December 2021 had indicated a strong desire for travel and that "our latest findings show that desire has now moved on to travel action".
That action is most evident in respondents in their late 30s to mid-40s, with 62% in that age group saying they had a trip booked already.
Confidence is returning due to a host of factors. Forty-eight percent of those surveyed said their travel concerns had been eased by the wide acceptance of vaccinations, an increasingly stable supply of flights and accommodation, the easing of destination entry requirements, and the availability of travel industry support.
Some Hong Kong travellers appear willing to dip into the unspent travel funds that have been piling up over the lockdown: 26% of those surveyed said they were prepared to spend more than HK$15,000 (68,000 baht) per person on an overseas summer trip, a higher number than in the same Expedia survey conducted in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
Despite the current travel limitations in place in Japan, where leisure visitors must still travel in groups, Tokyo, Osaka and Hokkaido all featured in the survey's top-five destinations most desired by Hong Kongers this summer. Taipei and Paris were the other two.
A hefty 86% of Hong Kong respondents also said they intended to enjoy a staycation this summer, according to the survey. Sixty-one percent had already booked.
Conducted together with independent research company OnePoll, the four Asia-market surveys constitute the first part of #TravelForReal, an Expedia campaign that is designed "to help build traveller confidence, address post-pandemic travel concerns and inspire our travellers to fully maximise their trips", according to the press release.
With the need to quarantine when returning to Hong Kong an ongoing hurdle, Expedia is looking to help Hong Kongers travel internationally with promises of flexible and refundable booking, Rajaram says.
