Make all tourists welcome, John Lee tells Hongkongers after surge in budget tours

Hong Kong should welcome all types of tourists irrespective of how much money they spend, the city’s leader has said, urging authorities to make better use of technology and collect data to understand visitor preferences.

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that about 1.1 million visitors came to the city during the five-day Labour Day “golden week” holiday, an increase of 22 per cent compared with the same period in 2024.

“Hong Kong has to be a city that welcomes tourists … because the image of Hong Kong as a city that welcomes tourists is very important,” he said ahead of his weekly meeting with the government’s top decision-making Executive Council.

“Anything we do to make any sector of tourists feel that they are not being welcomed … will be harmful to the overall image of Hong Kong as a tourist city.

“There will be high-end travellers and there will also be non-high-end travellers, but we must look at tourism as a whole, so that every tourist will find their experience in Hong Kong enjoyable.”

The Post reported on Monday that low-budget tours to Hong Kong costing as little as 68 yuan (US$9.35) had become a popular option among mainland Chinese visitors, sparking concerns about how such minimal spending by tourists in the city benefits the local economy.