Hong Kong logs 540,000 tourist trips in first 3 days of Lunar New Year break, but residents make 1.1 million outbound journeys
- Tourism industry representatives say mega events are a ‘great help’ in bringing in visitors
- More than 310,000 arrivals recorded on Tuesday with four-day holiday coming to an end
But residents took 1.1 million outbound trips over the same three-day period, twice the figure for arrivals. With the four-day holiday coming to an end, more than 310,000 arrivals were recorded on Tuesday as of 4pm.
Tourism industry representatives credited festive events as being huge draws for visitors, noting 183,674 mainland Chinese tourists arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday, when the city held its Lunar New Year fireworks display, compared with 102,154 the day before.
“This clearly shows mega events are a great help in bringing in tourists and having them stay longer,” Hong Kong Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui Ting-pong said.
He said the number of tour groups arriving from the mainland for the holiday had already reached two-thirds of pre-Covid levels.
About 200 groups came to Hong Kong each day during the break, compared with 300 daily in 2017 and 2018, he told a radio programme.
Chui said hotels had also performed well with many reaching occupancy levels of 90 per cent, even those located in peripheral districts such as Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan, and especially lower-priced ones.