Hong Thai Travel Services temporarily ceases ops of HK and Shenzhen branches

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Local travel agency Hong Thai Travel Services has temporarily halted all operations of its branches in Hong Kong and Shenzhen to minimise operating costs until the city reopens its border internationally.

The company said in a statement that its operations over the past two years resembled entering a “dark tunnel” that had no way out in sight, with its tour guides and other employees making no income and had to switch to different industries or apply extra part-time positions, according to SCMP.

“The company hopes to save costs and temporarily operate at minimal cost to reserve its strength until the full reopening of the borders,” Hong Thai said. However the agency told local media that it had no plans to shut down the business permanently.

A check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE saw its main office and frontline branches in Hong Kong and Shenzhen are temporarily closed at the moment. Calls to Causeway Bay and Mong Kok branches were not answered. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Hong Tai for a statement.

Social listening firm Meltwater saw a total of 237 mentions related to the incident over the past few days, with 25.3% negative sentiments and 8% positive sentiments.

sentiments hong tai

This comes as the Hong Kong government scrapped the hotel quarantine arrangements for inbound arrivals. The new travel arrangements "0+3" imposed last month led to inbound arrivals have limited movement in the city while under surveillance but are prohibited from entering venues that require vaccine checks. The travel agency said HongKongers have been choosing to travel on their own instead of sticking with tour packages so it's hard for it to resume the business. Moreover, it said it was having difficulties arranging for employees to go back to work in such a short period of time, according to SCMP.

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