Coronavirus: Hong Kong hotels raise rates for quarantine rooms as number of arrivals to city outpaces available spots
- The Post found more than 40 quarantine hotels have raised their prices by as much as 80 per cent since the launch of the scheme 1½ years ago
- Travel industry leaders appeal to the government to designate more hotels as part of its quarantine scheme or reduce the length of the mandatory quarantine period
More than 40 quarantine hotels in Hong Kong have raised their room rates by up to 80 per cent since the launch of the scheme more than 1½ years ago as growth in the number of arrivals outpaced the increase in available places, the Post has found.
The hike in prices continued this summer as travellers scrambled to secure rooms as most of the designated hotels were already booked up for July and August.
The authorities have increased the number of available rooms from 12,000 to 23,000 for between March and July since the launch of the first round of the designated quarantine hotel scheme from December 2020 until February 2021.
The figure is scheduled to increase to 24,000 in the eighth or next round between August and October after the government announced on Friday night it had added three more hotels to the scheme.
A total of 78 hotels have joined the initiative so far, with many joining more than once.
An average of just 486 overseas arrivals were travelling to Hong Kong on a daily basis in the first round, with the government previously requiring them to undergo a quarantine period of 14 days.
