The Government announced today an extension of the application deadline for the first phase of Cultural and Heritage Sites Local Tour Incentive Scheme (the Scheme), in view of the application circumstances. The Scheme which was originally due to be closed on 31 October2023, will be extended by two months to 31 December 2023.

As a continuous effort to support the travel trade to develop itineraries and products with cultural and heritage elements, the Government will provide the eligible licensed travel agentswith an additional 100 Advanced Level Quotas on the condition that all quotas for the Basic and Advanced Level local tours (involving a total incentive amount of HK$280,000) have been used before the application period ends, while the subsidy level for receiving each eligible local tour participant remains unchanged, i.e. an additional incentive amount of HK$40,000.

In other words, the licensed travel agents will be eligible to receive the additional 100 Advanced Level Quotas if they fulfil the following criteria:
(i) All Basic Level Quotas have been used or all convertible Basic Level Quotas have been converted to Advanced Level Quotas; AND
(ii) All Advanced Level Quotas have been used, or the total number of travellers involved in the new applications are sufficient to use the remaining existing quotas and new quotas.

Applications for the eligible local tours under the Scheme must be submitted by the following deadlines (Licensed travel agents must submit the application to TIC in respect of local tour on or before the last day of the month following the departure date of the tour):

Important Notes：

• The 100 new additional Advanced Level Quotas are applicable to eligible Advanced Level local tour departing from 1 November to 31 December 2023;
• Regarding the quota conversion arrangement, pursuant to the aforesaid extension of the application deadline and enhancement measures, licensed travel agents who wish to convert unused Basic Level Quotas into Advanced Level Quotas from 1 November 2023 onwards, the application for "Quota Conversion" must be made to the TIC at least 7 working days before the departure of the eligible Advanced Level local tour and no later than 15 December 2023 (whichever is earlier). Late applications will not be processed. The "Quota Conversion" application is a one-off arrangement with no minimum quota limit (i.e. no minimum of 100 Basic Level Quotas per conversion) and cannot be adjusted or reversed once converted.

Revised documents of the Scheme will be published on the TIC website. For inquiry, please contact TIC at 2969 8149.