{"id":26093,"date":"2022-01-07T08:50:16","date_gmt":"2022-01-07T11:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=26093"},"modified":"2026-04-23T12:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T15:27:12","slug":"fitch-hong-kong-china-travel-bubble-could-be-launched-during-1h22","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/fitch-hong-kong-china-travel-bubble-could-be-launched-during-1h22","title":{"rendered":"Fitch: Hong Kong-China travel bubble could be launched during 1H22"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fitch Ratings Inc expects both countries could launch a quarantine-free travel scheme during the first half of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong.- Fitch Ratings Inc<\/strong>\u00a0predicted a travel bubble between Hong Kong and China could be launched in the following months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chief Executive of Hong Kong<\/a>, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor<\/strong>, had said that an outbreak of Omicron variant Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong may hinder the city\u2019s chances of reaching a quarantine-free travel arrangement with mainland China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the ratings agency stated: \u201cFor now, we still expect the authorities to begin a cautious phase-in of the quarantine-free travel during the first half of 2022.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Macau authorities said that once Hong Kong and the mainland reach similar arrangements<\/strong>, Macau and Hong Kong may launch a quarantine-free travel bubble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reopening of the border between Hong Kong and Macau was highly expected <\/strong>as Hong Kong has historically accounted for 15 per cent to 20 per cent of Macau\u2019s total gaming revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mainland China continues to be the only country to have a largely quarantine-free travel bubble<\/a> with Macau<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Hong Kong authorities have recently implemented strict new Covid-19 control measures<\/strong>, including banning dining at restaurants after 6 pm, closing all bars, beauty salons and beaches, and suspending passenger flights from eight countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rule has been in place for two weeks, but it may be extended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities in Macau<\/a> have also decided to halt all commercial passenger flights to Macau from January 9 to avoid a rise in new Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the last few days, authorities revealed three fresh \u201cimported\u201d cases of Covid-19 <\/strong>were detected among air passengers arriving from overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stricter quarantine measures were also implemented for incoming passengers from places deemed \u201cvery high-risk\u201d in 22 countries\/regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before heading to Macau, travellers from these high-risk areas must present proof of three \u201cnegative\u201d Covid-19 nucleic acid test results<\/strong> within five days and at least 24 hours apart. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fitch Ratings Inc expects both countries could launch a quarantine-free travel scheme during the first half of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":10509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Fitch Ratings Inc. anticipates a cautious phase-in of quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and mainland China in H1 2022, despite Omicron-related setbacks and stringent new restrictions. This development is critical for Macau's gaming sector, as Hong Kong historically contributes 15-20% of its total gaming revenue, directly impacting GGR recovery and market sentiment.","focusai_entities":"Fitch Ratings Inc, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor","focusai_location":"Hong Kong, China, Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.7), operator_casino (1.0), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Macau GGR Impact","query":"What is the projected GGR uplift for Macau's concessionaires if the Hong Kong-Macau travel bubble materializes in H1 2022, considering historical contribution rates and current operational constraints?"},{"label":"Regulatory Alignment","query":"What specific regulatory and public health governance frameworks need to be harmonized between Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China to ensure the sustainability of any proposed travel bubble, particularly concerning B2B\/B2C licensing implications?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,23876],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-social-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26093"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26096,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26093\/revisions\/26096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}