THE SIX-day visa-free Pearl River Delta access usually afforded to travellers from Hong Kong will be suspended from July 15 till the end of August, a move that is expected to dampen South-east Asian arrivals to Guangdong province.
The temporary halt is due to the 2011 Summer Universiade competition, scheduled to be held in Shenzhen from August 12 to 23.
Foreign travellers are usually allowed to visit Guangdong, via Hong Kong, for a maximum of 144 hours (six days), via entry ports in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Huizhou and Shantou.
Hong Kong-based W Travel, which specialises in South-east Asia inbound traffic, often includes Shenzhen as part of a multi-destination itinerary. General manager, Wing Wong, said: “July and August is the peak season for Indonesia and Malaysia markets. This decision will result in a 15 to 20 per cent drop in group traffic.
“Moreover, it means our overseas partners will need a longer lead time, as last-minute bookings cannot be entertained,” he added.
Century Holiday International Travel Service has operations in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. General manager of its Guangzhou branch, Creamy Chen, is anticipating a 50 per cent drop in traffic due to the visa-free access hiatus.
“The visa-free access enables a six-day stay in Guangdong, and therefore draws a lot of traffic via Hong Kong and Macau,” he explained. “It costs Indonesians US$60 to obtain a visa. In fact, there are a lot of Malaysians and Indonesians traveling during this period.”
