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Taipei resident Emily Tseng is a self-proclaimed Hong Kong fan who visits Asia's world city six or seven times a year. Since the September 1 launch of the Immigration Department's free online pre-arrival registration service for Taiwan residents, she is poised to visit even more often.
Ms Tseng seized the chance to use the free service and enjoyed a weekend getaway earlier this month. Before, she had to spend several hundred New Taiwan dollars to apply for a visa through a travel agent. Now she can print out her own notification slip - and spend the money she saves in Asia's world city.
In the first two weeks of the new service, about 27,000 Taiwanese residents have already registered through the service. To herald the convenient free service, the Hong Kong Tourism Board has collaborated with airlines and more than 50 travel agents across Taiwan to launch promotions and discount travel packages.
A story and video featuring the new service appear on the news.gov.hk website today (September 23).
Ends/Sunday, September 23, 2012
Issued at HKT 11:20
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