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Tourist visits to Hong Kong surge by nearly a fifth to 6 million in May, driven by mainland Chinese holidays, but impact of extradition bill protests looms large
- Mega bridge and high-speed rail link fuel increase
- Tourism boss warns protests gripping Hong Kong this month could slow growth
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Tourist arrivals in Hong Kong surged nearly 20 per cent to 5.92 million in May, driven by national holidays in mainland China, but concerns have been raised that the momentum could be hard to sustain amid extradition bill protests.
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The year-on-year growth was mainly driven by the 4.72 million mainland visitors coming to the city that month, an increase of 23.6 per cent from a year earlier, according to Hong Kong Tourism Board data published on Friday.
Local tourism chiefs predicted the civil unrest would slow growth for June, with some people put off by the political instability witnessed this month.
Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, whose members include hotels, travel agents and attractions, said the mainland’s Labour Day holiday between May 1 and 4 helped boost numbers.
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It was the first mini “golden week” to fall with the city’s two major cross-border transport links – the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge – in operation.
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