Published: 1:42pm, 28 Jan 2025Updated: 5:17pm, 28 Jan 2025
Mainland Chinese visitors made more than 400,000 trips to Hong Kong in the past three days before the start of the Lunar New Year “golden week” holiday, a third of the about 1.2 million outbound journeys that city residents embarked on over the same period.
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A representative for a property developer said on Tuesday that several shopping centres could anticipate double-digit growth in foot traffic and a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in sales during the holiday, attributing the surge to the resumption of multiple-entry visas for Shenzhen residents visiting the city.
According to official data, the number of trips made by mainlanders between Saturday and Monday reached 419,072, accounting for 80 per cent of the total visitor figures of 524,489. Hongkongers made 1.16 million outbound trips in the same period.
The mainland’s “golden week” holiday will run from January 28 to February 4.
The Hong Kong government estimated earlier that the city would welcome 1.4 million mainland visitors over the Lunar New Year period, about 14 per cent more than in 2024.
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Fung Wing-yan, Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency’s leasing department promotion manager, said peak foot traffic was expected on Thursday and Friday, the second and third days of Lunar New Year, at shopping centres managed by the company, including APM in Kwun Tong and IFC Mall in Central.
“[Mainland visitors] typically prefer to greet their friends and family first, before heading out to travel,” she told a radio programme.