Hong Kong holiday exodus as 1 million people leave city in 2 days for first post-pandemic Christmas
- Holidaymakers enticed by weaker regional currencies, tax rebates for spending and novelty of first Christmas abroad since Covid restrictions were dropped
- Number of people departing city on Friday and Saturday via all border crossings reached 1.04 million
Hong Kong has been hit by a holiday exodus with more than 1 million people leaving over the past two days, as residents take advantage of the first Christmas since pandemic restrictions were lifted and borders fully reopened to the world.
More than 599,200 people left the city on Saturday via air, land and sea control points by 9pm, Immigration Department data showed, with 70,842 flying out from the airport. Some 337,898 people arrived in Hong Kong.
The total number of people departing on Friday and Saturday via all border crossings reached 1.04 million.
The department earlier predicted that Saturday would be the peak departure day via land crossings, with 549,000 expected to leave. The number of arrivals by land was expected to peak on Tuesday with an estimated 626,000 people.
Fanny Yeung Shuk-fun, executive director of the Travel Industry Council, estimated that about 2,800 outbound tour groups – or 70,000 people – would depart the city in December, with around half over Christmas and the New Year holiday.
That is 70 per cent of the level in 2018, before the city was hit by anti-government protests in 2019 followed by the pandemic.
“After all, it is Christmas so a lot of people are looking for a white Christmas,” she said. “Hokkaido tours in Japan and going to Korea for skiing are very popular within Asia.”