The people of Hong Kong are cutting travel costs but not abandoning their holidays as they economize on luxuries during the global economic slump, a survey released Tuesday found, dpa reported.
A survey of people in the wealthy city of 6.9 million found they were looking at making their winter breaks cheaper rather than staying at home.
Forty-eight per cent of people interviewed said they would be more flexible on travel dates, 40 per cent said they would consider taking shorter trips and 35 per cent said they would cut holiday budgets.
A surprisingly large 78 per cent of respondents in the survey by the online travel firm Zuji said they still planned to go on holiday in early 2009 despite the economic downturn.
"At first glance, it would appear that these are challenging times for the travel industry," said Zuji Hong Kong general manager Sean Seah.
"However, a closer look reveals that people still want to take a break - they will just be more flexible in the way they plan their travel."
Millions of Hong Kong people traditionally travel to mainland China and destinations around South-East Asia at Christmas and over the Chinese New Year holidays.