Tourists wear face masks, as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus, as they travel on the Star Ferry in Victoria Harbour from Kowloon (in the background) to Hong Kong Island on March 13, 2020. (ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP)

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) will roll out a HK$400-million plan to support and promote the city’s tourism industry already battered by protests and currently reeling under a novel coronavirus outbreak that has been declared a global pandemic. 

The plan will cover local and overseas travel agencies, hotels, airlines, tourism sites, retails, catering as well as convention and exhibition sectors

The tourism promotional campaign aims to boost local consumer confidence and enhance Hong Kong’s tourism prospects in overseas tourism markets, according to the board. 

The plan will cover local and overseas travel agencies, hotels, airlines, tourism sites, retails, catering as well as convention and exhibition sectors.

ALSO READ: Hong Kong visitor arrivals drop more than half in January

To lift local consumer confidence, the campaign will support local restaurants to provide limited discounts or two-for-one special offers to consumers, said Dane Cheng, executive director of HKTB. 

Shops under the Quality Tourism Services Scheme administered by HKTB will be exempted from paying license renewal fees, and merchants who apply to join for the first time will be required to pay only half the application fee.

To further promote tourism, HKTB will waive all charges for local businesses that attend HKTB’s tourism marketing events overseas and will also subsidize flight and accommodation expenses.

In his Budget speech, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced additional funding of more than HK$700 million for the HKTB to step up external promotion after the pandemic. In total, the local tourism will receive a lifeline worth more than HK$1.1 billion. 

According to latest HKTB data, visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in February plummeted 96 percent compared with the previous year.

To contain the epidemic, the SAR government has closed most checkpoints at the border with the mainland, leaving just the airport, Shenzhen Bay and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge open since Feb 8. Anyone traveling from the mainland to Hong Kong will be placed under a 14-day compulsory quarantine.

Visitor arrivals dropped to an average of 3,300 per day after Feb 8 and 80 percent of them were non-mainland visitors, HKTB data showed.  

READ MORE: Tourism Board estimates 14% visitors drop in 2019

As the pandemic spread globally, the government has expanded the 14-day compulsory quarantine to include those who traveled from Europe, South Korea, the United States, Britain, Ireland and Egypt to Hong Kong.

The tourism board expected the number of tourist arrivals will further decline in March. 

Contact the writer at pamelalin@chinadailyhk.com