682,000 mainland tourists in Hong Kong from May 1 to 3, up 23% year on year

More than 682,000 mainland Chinese tourists entered Hong Kong during the first three days of the Labour Day “golden week” holiday, with arrivals on the second day setting a new post-Covid single-day record, the financial chief has revealed, as he pledged to strengthen infrastructure to make every part of the city a tourist destination.

A total of 682,114 mainland Chinese visitors entered Hong Kong between May 1 and 3 of the five-day holiday, marking a 22.83 per cent year-on-year increase from 2024, official statistics showed on Sunday.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also pledged in his weekly blog to strengthen tourism infrastructure to make every part of the city a tourism destination, echoing remarks previously made by Beijing’s point man on Hong Kong affairs.

For the first three days of the golden week holiday, Hong Kong welcomed a total of 803,612 visitors, 26.2 per cent more than during the same period last year.

Chan said the second day of the holiday alone saw 267,000 mainland arrivals, setting a new single-day record since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

To accommodate the rise in tourism arrivals, Chan said the government would expand the city’s infrastructure and pay attention to improving visitors’ travel experiences.

In comments that echoed calls made earlier by Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Chan also said the city government was making every effort to promote “tourism everywhere”.