Hong Kong gears up for 800,000 mainland Chinese visitors over Labour Day ‘golden week’ holiday
- Chief Executive John Lee says the government has been making ‘comprehensive preparations’ for the coming ‘golden week’ holiday
- Shopping festival will also be held in Yau Tsim Mong district, with various retailers and restaurants offering perks and discounts, source says
Hong Kong is gearing up for at least 800,000 mainland Chinese visitors and about 5.9 million people crossing border checkpoints over the Labour Day “golden week” holiday, the city leader has said, while a popular tourist area is planning a shopping festival.
The government’s forecast on mainland tourist numbers and immigration traffic for the five-day holiday marked 28 per cent and 75 per cent increases respectively on the figures for the same period last year.
Hong Kong’s Temple Street draws 1.5 million people, will run until end of year
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that the government had been making “comprehensive preparations” for the golden week holiday, which falls from May 1 to 5, by keeping in close contact with transport operators, working with businesses to offer promotions, and ensuring good management of tour groups.
“We will make good use of this opportunity to show that Hong Kong is a vibrant city. We welcome tourists,” he said.
“Hong Kong will give tourists good experiences that they will not just enjoy, but when they finish their business, they will tell their friends and neighbours within their home cities.”
Lee said the government would make further announcements on arrangements for border control points nearer to the start of the peak holiday period.
“We will be in full gear to ensure that there will be good and smooth service for visitors,” he said.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board earlier said a pyrotechnics display would be held at Victoria Harbour on May 1 and a drone show on May 11.
A source familiar with holiday arrangements said a shopping festival would be held in Yau Tsim Mong district, with various retailers and restaurants offering perks and discounts.
Details of these initiatives are expected as early as Wednesday.
Yau Tsim Mong District Council had suggested the festival as a promotional platform for businesses to reach potential customers, councillor Chris Ip Ngo-tung said.
“We hope that through the activity or the publicity, there will be more business for shops in the area,” Ip said.
He said the council had invited different stakeholders in the district to take part, and did not impose any requirements on what they had to offer.
“This festival is to complement the performances the Tourism Board is organising. We hope there will be synergy together with the increased number of tourists over the golden week period,” he added.
Influencers, celebrities among 2,000 invited to Hong Kong in tourism drive
Ip said while the festival coincided with the golden week, it was not aimed solely at mainland customers but also tourists from elsewhere as well as locals.
The festival could run beyond the five-day period, he added.
Hong Kong Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui Ting-pong said the government’s forecast on mainland arrivals was realistic based on past experience, and that the visitors would give a boost to the retail, tourism, and food and beverage sectors.
“This time around it is like the reverse of the Easter holidays when most Hongkongers left the city to spend across the border or overseas,” Chui said.
“[Labour Day] is not a long holiday in Hong Kong, but there will be an influx of visitors to the city to spend.”
Easter is not a public holiday on the mainland.
Hong Kong wants a slice of the Mideast-visitor pie, but is city ‘halal’ enough?
Chui said that while prices in Hong Kong were not as low as in Shenzhen, local businesses should be working on providing better services and products so customers felt they were getting value for their money.
Separately, Hong Kong airport handled 4.36 million passengers and 29,840 flight movements last month, representing year-on-year increases of 56.7 per cent and 48.2 per cent, respectively.
The Airport Authority also said that all passenger segments saw growth, which was partly driven by the long Easter holidays at the end of March, with traffic to and from Southeast Asia, the mainland and Japan recording the most significant increases.
