Unlock Qingyuan City: Hotel offers special discounts for HK travellers

Since the "Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles" scheme began, some Hong Kong drivers have started taking longer road trips. Instead of only driving to nearby places like Shenzhen and Zhuhai, they now try to drive to northern Guangdong.

A hotel in Qingyuan is offering discounts to attract Hong Kong customers. Kevin, a Hong Kong resident, travels north at least twice a month. This is his first time driving to Qingyuan for a two-night stay, a journey of three-plus hours. He said he now enjoys driving further north. He said he would like to drive out of the province too.

There are rest stops on the highways where he can use the restroom and grab something to eat. He finds the journey very convenient. The hot springs are what attracted him to Qingyuan.

Andrew Cheung and his wife Agnes are regular northbound travellers. They think cities in northern Guangdong offer more novelty.

Cheung said he likes to enjoy a more natural environment, and they will drive as far as the battery of their electric vehicle allows.

Agnes said they do not really have a travel plan, and they just want to have an enjoyable trip.

Qingyuan has many attractions. Gulong Gorge is famous for its rafting events and hosts an international rafting open competition every year.

There is also Qingyuan Chimelong Forest Kingdom, where visitors can see wild animals up close.

Hong Kong guests accounted for 18% of this hotel's total guests in the first three quarters of this year, up 10 percentage points year-on-year.

General Manager of New World Qingyuan Hotel, Alex Lee said "Qingyuan has a lot of nature scenery to offer, besides hot springs." "They probably would like to actually spend more time in the local culture, the hotel designs programmes where we take guests to morning markets tours, so they can actually experience the local lifestyle."

The drive between the hotel and the high-speed rail station is nearly an hour, so the hotel offers two free shuttle buses daily. The hotel expects occupancy to exceed 90% during this year's Christmas period, with Hong Kong tourists accounting for about 55%.