A total of 44 hotels will provide about 12,500 rooms under the seventh cycle of the Designated Quarantine Hotel Scheme, the Government announced today.

It issued letters to some 2,000 hotels and guesthouses with valid licences on November 30 to invite applications for enlisting as designated quarantine hotels in the seventh cycle and received 60 applications.

Upon assessment, 44 hotels, including 37 in the sixth cycle, were shortlisted to provide about 12,500 rooms of various types and rates for selection by people arriving from places other than the Mainland and Macau.

The contract period is from March 1 to July 31. The duration of this cycle was increased by two months as compared to the previous cycle to enable travellers who will return from abroad during the summer holidays to plan ahead.

Seven of the hotels are new to the scheme, with four due to start business before March 1 to alleviate the demand for hotel rooms.

W Hong Kong and Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Kowloon East will begin running in January while Nina Hotel Causeway Bay and iclub Mong Kok Hotel will start operation in February.