Walk in Hong Kong, a Hong Kong tourism company is reportedly conducting free online tours in Cantonese that are focused on the culture and local history with the help of private donations and government subsidies. While the regular in-person tour booking usually took a week to fill, 70 spots were filled overnight in one of the recent virtual tours. To reach a foreign audience, the company is planning to run tours in the English language. The travel company is expected to start charging approximately HK$100 per person from next month onwards.

The complete tour is shot using a phone and gimbal. The tour is made interactive with expert guests to answer questions. Eight people are divided into two teams of which one team stays on the ground and the other interacts with people from the studio amid the tour stops.

Olivia Tang, the Managing Director stated that the firm is planning to turn it into a program that attracts the foreign audience, for instance giving a glimpse of Hong Kong’s current events and its history. Hundreds of people from around the globe attend the tour at the same time, she confirmed.

Hong Kong tourism has been hugely impacted since the last year, initially by the pro-democracy protests and later by the outbreak of the pandemic. Travel advisories are also issued by many countries after Beijing announced a national security law in the past month. This move has tightened the central government’s hold on China’s freest city. Reports show that the tourist arrival dropped by 99.7% in June from last year to 14,606.

Walk in Hong Kong is a tourism company that offers beautifully designed and researched walking tours that open to everyone curious to learn about the lesser-known and seen parts of Hong Kong. The tour is full of fun and equally informative and festive of the tales of the city.