An Area in Northern Italy Will Cover Train Fare for Visitors

Move over, Hong Kong.

You’re not the only part of the world offering incentives to visitors to increase tourism.

The Friuli Venezia Giulia region in Northern Italy is offering to refund train fare to travelers to the area who arrive via the Trenitalia line. The Friuli Venezia Giulia region includes such cities as Trieste and Udine, according to Travel+Leisure magazine.

“Choose your sustainable holiday, reach Friuli Venezia Giulia by train!” the region wrote on its website. “Book in one of the affiliated facilities in Grado, Lignano Sabbiadoro, Udine, and Trieste, and Friuli Venezia Giulia gives you the train ticket!”

In addition to getting your euros back for the train, the region is also giving out discount cards for savings on local attractions.

The only stipulation is that visitors must agree to stay in the region for at least two hotel nights by booking a package that includes their lodging in the area.

The news comes on the heels of a similar announcement by tourism officials in Hong Kong. Faced with some of the most severe, self-imposed COVID sanctions of anywhere in the world, Hong Kong only lifted its pandemic restrictions last month. Now the city, technically known as a Special Administrative Region of China, is hoping to regain some of the overwhelming number of tourists it has lost the last two-and-a-half years.

Hong Kong’s airport authority said this week it will give away 500,000 airline tickets, worth HK $2 billion (or $254.8 million in U.S. dollars) for free.

“The airport authority will finalize the arrangement with airline companies. Once the government announces it will remove all Covid-19 restrictions for inbound travelers, we’ll roll out the advertising campaigns for the free air tickets,” Dane Cheng, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Board said.