HK expects to welcome 800,000 mainland visitors during Labour Day Golden Week

Hong Kong is expecting to see over 800,000 mainland visitors during the upcoming Labour Day Golden Week from 1 May to 5 May, marking a 6% YOY increase compared to last year, according to the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC). 

The council's executive director Fanny Yeung said that around 600 tour groups are expected to visit the city, marking a 10% increase from 2024. Hotel occupancy rates are projected to reach 90%, with room prices remaining stable compared to last year.

Yeung added that more and more mainland visitors prefer short-haul trips in Hong Kong and the situation is placing city as a top-of-mind destination, with the newly opened Kai Tak Sports Park and Ocean Park's six giant pandas anticipated to draw additional mainland tourists to the city.

The above estimate is similar to the one from the Immigration Department (ImmD), which estimated that 840,000 mainland passengers will visit Hong Kong via various sea, land and air control points during the five-day Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland.

Compared with last year's Labour Day Golden Week of the mainland and this year’s Chinese New Year Golden Week of the Mainland, the daily average visitor arrivals are expected to increase by 10% and 13% respectively. Major tourist spots have formulated special arrangements to handle the estimated increase in people flows. The Hong Kong community is expected to become more vibrant and highly patronised during the Labour Day Golden Week of the mainland, bringing opportunities to various sectors.

The ImmD estimates that the peak period of outbound passengers using land BCPs is expected to be 3 May with around 590,000 passengers; whilst the peak period of inbound passengers using land BCPs is expected to be 5 May with around 580,000 passengers. 

The Travel Industry Authority (TIA) has also reminded travel agents receiving mainland inbound tour groups to adopt appropriate diversion measures to enable proper management of visitor flows and tour buses, with a view to offering a pleasant travel experience to visitors. In addition, district offices will closely monitor the flow of visitors within their respective districts and notify relevant departments having regard to the actual circumstances with a view to strengthening management of the relevant spots.

Relevant departments have minimised leave for frontline officers to enable flexible deployment of manpower and operation of additional counters and channels, with a view to diverting passenger and vehicular flows, according to Hong Kong's chief secretary for administration, Chan Kwok-ki. The Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre set up by the Police, the ImmD, the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED), and other relevant departments will be activated during the long holiday to monitor the real-time situations at various control points.

Chan said, "We estimate a notable increase in visitor arrivals during the Labour Day Golden Week of the mainland. The government will make good preparations for receiving visitors, as well as maintaining close liaison with relevant organisations and the travel trade to prepare well for crowd management, information dissemination and arrangements of public transportation and boundary control points (BCPs), with a view to responding promptly to various kinds of emergencies and ensure the smooth operation of various aspects in receiving visitors and offering a high-quality experience to them."

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to TIC for more information.

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