HONG KONG: Residents of Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions headed to Guangdong during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays will be able to make the most of an official cultural and tourism subsidies bonanza.
The province is launching a wide-ranging 30-million-yuan (US$4.2 million) consumption voucher campaign to boost spending.
The cultural and tourism campaign will begin on Friday and run through Oct 31, with the provincial culture and tourism department offering subsidies to residents and visitors from both China and overseas.
The campaign will include online and offline promotions, with a maximum discount of 500 yuan per transaction.
Eligible products will cover hotels and homestays, scenic-spot tickets and tour packages, as well as emerging tourism offerings such as cruise and yacht trips, family tours, study tours and senior-friendly wellness travel, according to the department.
The campaign is expected to inject fresh momentum into Guangdong’s cross-boundary tourism, especially as more Hong Kong and Macau residents travel to the Chinese mainland during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays.
With convenient high-speed rail and road links, short trips to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Foshan are likely to remain popular, driving spending on hotels, dining, shopping and cultural experiences.
The campaign comes as Guangdong prepares for the peak autumn tourism season, with the two major holidays typically driving increased travel and cultural consumption.
The subsidy program has also been expanded from last year. Guangdong allocated 20 million yuan for its 2025 campaign, with the subsidies reportedly generating more than eight times their value in tourism consumption.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period last year, Guangdong generated 61.32 billion yuan in tourism revenue, up 14.2 per cent year-on-year, and received 65.18 million tourist arrivals, official data showed. - China Daily/ANN
