Hong Kong could get massive influx of tourists from mainland China during ‘golden week’ as words spreads about new high-speed rail link
Tour operators predicting as many as 300 tours a day to city, although industry experts sound note of caution in raising expectations
Nine thousand visitors from tour groups could flood into Hong Kong daily from mainland China during the coming “golden week” holiday – a 50 per cent surge from last year in volume for this segment – as word spreads about the new cross-border high-speed rail link.
With the break following National Day on October 1, tour operators are predicting as many as 300 tour groups a day to the city, each with about 25 to 30 people, according to Ricky Tse Kam-ting, founding president of the Hong Kong Inbound Tour Operators Association.
His comments came as the MTR Corporation, the rail giant operating the local stretch of the high-speed line, said it anticipated a sharp rise in travellers over the next week with some 250,000 tickets sold to coincide with the break.
The rail giant said, however, that as the line had only just launched, some tour groups might not yet offer packages that include a trip on the cross-border link. About 46,000 passengers per day boarded trains from Hong Kong since the link opened last week, a figure well below the government’s initial estimate of 80,000.
Tse remained optimistic, pointing to the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link raising the city’s profile: “The rail opening helped mainland people hear more about Hong Kong, allowing the city to advertise itself.” His association has about 200 members.
