File photo shows bus tour in Hong Kong.
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tourist arrivals in Hong Kong, China just surpassed the pre-pandemic numbers for the month of January.
This was revealed by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in a dinner reception on Wednesday.
“The close ties between Hong Kong and the Philippines have been demonstrated by the strong inbound tourist figures,” HKETO Libera Cheng said.
Cheng cited that the tourist from the Philippines contributed 25% increase to the tourism numbers of Hong Kong in January 2024.
According to the data from Hong Kong Tourism Board, the city welcomed 85,878 tourists from the Philippines in January alone. This is a 25% increase from 68,588 Filipino tourists recorded in the same period in 2019, or before the COVID-19 travel restriction was imposed.
Hong Kong only fully reopened its borders in early February last year.
To attract tourists back to their city, Hong Kong launched a giveaway of 500,000 free air…