Hong Kong won’t extend open hours at borders during Lunar New Year holiday

Hong Kong border checkpoints will not operate beyond working hours during the Lunar New Year period, authorities have said, calling on tourists to plan ahead and stay overnight in the city.

Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, who chaired an interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements, also promised on Wednesday that the government would ensure visitors had a smooth experience as a “notable increase” in the number of tourists was expected over the holiday.

Around 8.67 million people- Hongkongers and visitors – are estimated to pass through the city’s sea, land and air control points during mainland China’s Lunar New Year “golden week”, which will run from January 28 to February 4. Around 7.3 million of them are expected to head to the city via land checkpoints.

The government said the third and fifth days of Lunar New Year would be the peak of outbound and inbound passengers using the land checkpoints, with around 567,000 and 640,000 passengers expected, respectively.

According to tourism sector estimates, 2,000 inbound tour groups will visit the city during the eight-day period.

The city is set to welcome around 1.43 million mainlanders over the period, with authorities expecting the daily average visitor arrivals will increase by 3 and 14 per cent, respectively, compared with National Day and Lunar New Year holidays last year.

The government, however, said there would not be any special arrangements for the operating hours of border checkpoints this year.