Hualien County in Taiwan and Hong Kong will launch direct flight services on the 12th, with various sectors expecting it to promote tourism interactions between the two places and create a new era for sightseeing.
To coincide with the upcoming direct flight service, Hualien County held a tourism promotion event in Hong Kong on the 9th, hosted by County Mayor Xu Zhenwei. At the event, she stated that this direct flight is of great significance to both Hualien and Hong Kong, expressing hope that Hong Kong people will revisit Hualien. With beautiful scenery everywhere, whether on the mountains or the plains, Hualien offers Hong Kong visitors the chance to 'recharge' their lives.
Participants in the event also included Kuomintang Legislative Yuan caucus leader Fu Kun-chi, Hong Kong Legislative Council member Yiu Pak-leung, Chairman of the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council Priscilla Hsu, and Director of the Hong Kong and Taiwan Travel Industry Association Wong Ngon-tau. Representing the tourism sector, Yiu Pak-leung said that Taiwan and Hong Kong are tourist and source destinations for each other, hoping that once the direct flights are operational, tourism interactions between the two places will become more frequent.
Priscilla Hsu revealed that in the first quarter of next year, they plan to organize a tour group to Hualien for a tourism study, looking forward to the direct flights bringing Hong Kong and Hualien closer. Fu Kun-chi said that direct flights will promote tourism between the residents of Hong Kong and Hualien, deepen cooperation in the tourism sector of both cities, enhance cultural exchanges, and help Hualien open international air routes.
The direct flight service between Hong Kong and Hualien will be operated by HK Express, with an initial frequency of 4 round-trip flights per week, increasing by 1 flight per week during the Lunar New Year period. Previously, there were charter direct flight services between Hong Kong and Hualien, which were later discontinued.