Lai Yiu-keung, the deputy editor-in-chief of the Chung Hwa Book Company, a major exhibitor, said his team was in a race against time to build their booth, but insisted it was worth the effort.

“I believe we will see more people come back to the fair, maybe a 10 per cent increase,” he predicted.

“Last year, because of the pandemic, none of the Taiwanese exhibitors could attend. This year, I look forward to seeing more exhibitors and visitors from outside Hong Kong.”

Other exhibitors highlighted the new Exhibition Centre station, which gives a direct link to the Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau border crossings by the extended East Rail line and said they were keen to welcome more mainland Chinese and overseas visitors after border restrictions were ditched earlier this year.

Vicky Liu, a distributor from the mainland’s Guangdong province, who arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday morning, said that she anticipated more Chinese day trippers would visit.

But she admitted the city’s unstable weather this week remained a worry.

“I crossed the border at Lo Wu this morning precisely because the East Rail line can come directly to the Exhibition Centre. I used to hate crossing at Lo Wu,” Liu said.

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“However, human traffic flow is still very dependent on the weather. If it continues raining, I am worried fewer people will come.”

Sophia Chong Suk-fan, the deputy director of organiser the Trade Development Council, said she expected a 10 per cent rise in foot traffic from last year based on the proportion of overseas and mainland attendees at previous events.

She also appealed to the public to spend their latest consumption vouchers – the HK$2,000 (US$256) second instalment delivered on Sunday – at the fair to help boost the economy.

“We are quite positive about the impact of consumption vouchers being issued so close to the opening of the fair. We really hope residents will spend more, not just on books, but also on snacks and sporting equipment,” Chong said.

But Ken Chan, the sales director at Cosmos Books, was less optimistic that the consumption vouchers would drive sales.

“People usually spend their vouchers on luxury items or food, so they might not splurge on books,” Chan said.

But Chan, who has exhibited at the fair for more than a decade, said that he anticipated visitor numbers would return to pre-pandemic levels of more than a million.

The fair recorded a total of 850,000 visitors last year over the seven-day event.

Lai added that major bookstores such as Chung Hwa would be able to accept consumption voucher payments, but some smaller vendors might not have the same options.

The theme for this year’s fair is Children’s and Young Adult literature, with a special focus on Hong Kong writers, including the late Ho Tsz, Chau Mat-mat, Poon Ming-chu and Poon Kam-ying.

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A special exhibition featuring nine writers will showcase memorabilia, including out-of-print works, manuscripts and photos.

Sessions by popular novelists, such as Chinese writers Yu Hua, author of To Live and Chronicle of a Blood Merchant, and Ma Boyong, who wrote The Longest Day in Chang’an, are already oversubscribed and have more than a thousand people signed up.

British children’s author and illustrator Theodora Whittington will discuss The Sand Turtle, a picture book about environmental problems she wrote especially for Hong Kong children.

The fair will also feature the World of Arts and Culture, an interactive zone designed to showcase picture books from more than 25 countries, some of which are unavailable in city bookstores.

Chen Bin, an exhibitor from Guangzhou, arrived in Hong Kong amid the typhoon weather by high-speed train on Monday. His booth, designed to showcase the literature and culture of Guangdong province, is expected to be one of the highlights of the fair.

He said his team had already prepared for the worst with the risk of another typhoon early next week, and that they were not worried about logistics as Guangzhou was close to the city.

“We braved the typhoon to get here. This fair is one of the most important ones in the Chinese cultural world – we cannot miss it,” he said.

The week-long book fair will run from July 19 to 25.

The event, which will be held alongside a sports fair and a snacks event, will feature 780 exhibitors from 36 countries and regions.

Admission, which grants access to all three fairs, is HK$30, up from HK$25 last year.