Uptick in mainland Chinese, foreign visitors to Hong Kong over Lunar New Year
Data shows 1.6 million mainland visitors arrived between January 25 and February 4, a 3.5 per cent increase over the same period last year
Hong Kong welcomed more mainland Chinese and overseas tourists over the Lunar New Year break compared with the 2024 holiday, a development that industry leaders have called encouraging while urging the city to raise its game in terms of offerings.
Immigration Department statistics showed 1.6 million visitors from the mainland arrived in Hong Kong between January 25 and February 4, a 3.5 per cent increase over the same period last year.
In terms of Hong Kong’s festive period, which spanned eight days between January 28 and February 4, 1.2 million mainland visitors entered the city, or 85 per cent of the 1.4 million total arrivals. On a daily basis, an average of 150,000 mainland tourists arrived.
During the eight-day period, the number of overseas visitors jumped by 11 per cent to 205,093 and included many short-haul travellers from Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.
“The mainland market is recovering, and I am confident about the tourism sector’s outlook in 2025,” Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, told the Post on Wednesday.
“The mainland tourist numbers over the Lunar New Year holiday are within expectations, even with slight growth.”
