Singapore next in line for Hong Kong's airline ticket giveaway, but first-day chaos puts some off

• Published date: 02 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

Singaporean Devi Rajaram is hoping to fulfil her dream of visiting Hong Kong for the first time and be among 12,500 people to score a free airline ticket in a giveaway campaign that launches for residents of the city state on Thursday.

The 33-year-old, who works in media, told the Post she and her husband were excited to try their luck when registration opened on carrier Cathay Pacific Airways' website at midday in Singapore.

"If I win, I can finally meet my two really good friends, who are like family to me, in their home after over a decade of knowing them," she said.

Rajaram said if either she or her husband won a free ticket, the other would pay the fare for the second one so they could travel together ? exactly what the government was banking on with its "Hello Hong Kong" campaign, which has tasked four carriers with handing out more than 500,000 free airline tickets.

Authorities hope the campaign will attract 1.5 million visitors and provide a much-needed boost to tourism.

Cathay's "World of Winners" campaign will hand out 80,000 free round-trip tickets to people in Southeast Asian countries in March.

The carrier opened up registration for 17,400 round-trip economy-class tickets to Hong Kong from Thailand on Wednesday. Another 12,500 tickets for travelers from Singapore will be up for grabs on Thursday, and 20,400 from the Philippines on Friday. Tickets will also be allocated for tourists from Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

Hong Kong Airlines, meanwhile, rolled out 6,000 round-trip "zero-dollar" tickets to the city from Bangkok, Hanoi and Manila on Wednesday.

But not everyone was satisfied. The long waiting times on the two carriers' websites on Wednesday, amid a surge in visitor traffic, left some tourists blaming the chaos for denying them the chance to snag a free ticket.

One 35-year-old tech worker who lives in Bangkok and asked to be identified only as Mike said he had hoped to win one of Cathay's tickets and joined the online queue when the giveaway opened, but the campaign ended before he was able to register.

News about airline websites crashing and long waiting times also turned off Singaporeans such as Vinice Yeo, 26, a senior marketer who gave up plans to participate in the lucky draw as the effort to enter sounded like too much trouble.

"I'm not even going to try ... I don't win giveaways with 100 other submissions anyway, so competing with millions of...