Policy Address 2026: Hong Kong to relax licensing rules for island guesthouses, develop ‘ticket stub economy’

Hong Kong will relax its licensing system for small guesthouses on the territory’s outlying islands, leader John Lee has announced in his annual Policy Address speech.

The chief executive said on Wednesday that authorities will waive deed-of-mutual-covenant restrictions prohibiting certain premises from being used as guesthouses or hotels when approving licence applications for island properties of three storeys or under.

The policy is part of a raft of government measures to boost the city’s tourism unveiled in Lee’s Policy Address speech.

Industry representatives had expected the policy to increase the number of guesthouses on outlying islands by 50 per cent following policy leaks earlier this week, according to local media reports.

Lee also said on Wednesday that Hong Kong will develop a “ticket stub economy,” offering various discounts to visitors attending major events held in the city to encourage them to extend their stay and increase spending.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board will connect event organisers with retail, catering, and other tourism-related groups, “fostering a consumption chain that extends from the event venue to the community,” he said in Cantonese.

Existing tourism initiatives such as developing the “yacht economy” to attract high-net-worth boat owners and promoting Hong Kong as a “Muslim-friendly” travel destination will continue, Lee said, adding that the first phase of renewal works for the nightlife hotspot Lan Kwai Fong will be gradually completed from next month.

The Immigration Department will launch a pilot scheme at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port in December, which will use artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology to expedite clearance for drivers and passengers of cross-boundary private vehicles, Lee said.

The authorities will also expand a tour guide licensing programme to accredit professionals specialising in in-depth tours on history and culture, Lee added, without specifying a timeline.

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Hans Tse is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in local politics, academia, and media transformation. He was previously a social science researcher, with writing published in the Social Movement Studies and Social Transformation of Chinese Societies journals. He holds an M.Phil in communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Before joining HKFP, he also worked as a freelance reporter for Initium between 2019 and 2021, where he covered the height - and aftermath - of the 2019 protests, as well as the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.