The Government announced today that about $377 million will be earmarked under the Anti-epidemic Fund for providing further support to the tourism and related sectors, as well as the cross-boundary passenger transport trade.

Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Edward Yau said that with the epidemic still widely affecting the world, cross-boundary and cross-border travel can hardly be resumed in the near term.

“Taking into account the grave challenges faced by the tourism industry continuously, the Government has decided to provide a round of special further subsidies to continue to support the relevant trades and tide over practitioners during this challenging period,” he added.

The new round of cash subsidies covers travel agents, their staff, tourist guides and tour escorts as well as tour service coach drivers.

Travel agents with 10 or less staff members will be provided with a $50,000 subsidy each. For travel agents with 11 staff members or more, the subsidy amount will be directly proportional to the number of staff, with a subsidy level of $5,000 per staff member as the basis of calculation. Some 1,600 travel agents stand to benefit from it.

A one-off subsidy of $7,500 will be provided to each travel agent's staff member and freelance accredited tourist guide and tour escort, benefitting some 18,400 people. The subsidy for drivers of tour service coaches that mainly serve tourists is $3,350 and will benefit some 3,400 drivers.

The Government will also provide further financial support to the cross-boundary passenger transport trade, including coaches, hire cars and ferries.

A one-off non-accountable subsidy of $30,000 will be provided to the registered owner of each licensed cross-boundary coach. The same subsidy amount will be given to the registered owner of a licensed cross-boundary hire car.

About 1,500 cross-boundary coaches and 600 cross-boundary hire cars will be covered by the subsidy.

The non-accountable subsidy also applies to cross-boundary ferries with each of the 80 eligible vessels to be provided with $500,000 in assistance.

Travel agents and practitioners who were eligible for and have been granted subsidies in the last round of the Tourism Industry Additional Support Scheme are entitled to the new round of cash subsidies and do not need to submit fresh applications.

The Tourism Commission will send SMS notifications concerning the subsidy disbursement arrangements and the subsidy is expected to be disbursed from early September.

Eligible people wishing to update their bank account information for subsidy collection should contact the commission by August 20.

Regarding support for the cross-boundary passenger transport trade, the Transport Department and Marine Department will issue letters to the eligible vehicle and vessel owners and operators. Payments are expected to be disbursed within one to two months upon receipt and verification of the applications.

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