London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2025

Hong Kong to add estimated 2,000 quarantine hotel rooms ahead of Christmas holidays

Hong Kong to add estimated 2,000 quarantine hotel rooms ahead of Christmas holidays

Authorities plan to ramp up the number of designated quarantine hotel rooms in the city by 20% ahead of what is expected to be a busy Christmas holiday season, a key industry player has said.
Michael Li Hon-shing, executive director of the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners, said the government was already in touch with sector representatives, and estimated the number of rooms would grow from 10,000 to 12,000 from Dec 1.

The 36 hotels currently approved to serve as coronavirus quarantine facilities - a list that is updated every three months - were booked at 84% capacity from September to November, according to the Food and Health Bureau.

"We expect more residents will come back [to Hong Kong] during and after the Christmas holiday, and the government can estimate the number by checking flight bookings with the airlines," Li told a radio programme on Tuesday.

He noted that while the government has typically chosen mid-range and budget hotels priced between HK$600 (2,500 baht) and HK$800 per night, adding some five-star accommodation to the mix could help meet demand among some returning travellers for a higher level of service and more comfortable rooms.

"I think the demand for that is not that huge, but it must have its own market," he said. "I believe the market for rooms priced at about HK$1,000 is larger."

He said hotels considering joining the scheme had to weigh their own strategies, including if they preferred to focus on longer-term tenants or the burgeoning "staycation" market.

"They may worry that future customers could be concerned that they had been a quarantine hotel before … But they may also hope to boost the occupancy rate by becoming a quarantine facility. It's up to the hotels' business strategy," he said.

Hong Kong has imposed one of the world's strictest policies for inbound travellers, requiring those from countries deemed high-risk - a list that includes Britain, the United States and Thailand - to complete up to three weeks of compulsory hotel quarantine.

The limited supply of government-approved hotels had left thousands of travellers to the city scrambling to book rooms and rearrange flights and rooms in recent months.

Meanwhile, foreign domestic helpers, who mainly come to the city from the Philippines or Indonesia, have just two quarantine options - the 409-room Silka Hotel Tsuen Wan or the government-run Penny's Bay quarantine facility, which has 1,000 slots.

Every room at both properties was snapped up within minutes of becoming available, as employers and employment agencies rushed to reserve slots for their workers.

According to government figures, the city had a total of 315 licensed hotel properties supplying 87,318 rooms as of August.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×