680,000 tourists visit Hong Kong in 4 days since Lunar New Year’s Eve

Around 680,000 mainland Chinese and international tourists visited Hong Kong between Lunar New Year’s Eve on Tuesday and Friday, with non-mainland ones recording a rise of 16 per cent from last year, according to the head of the city’s tourism board.

Tourism Board executive director Dane Cheng Ting-yat told a radio show on Saturday that statistics recorded in the past four days were “encouraging” as the total arrival figure marked a 6 per cent increase from the same period last year, and he expected visits from across the border would continue to grow.

The city has welcomed 564,000 mainland travellers, a 4 per cent increase from the same period last year, while the number of international travellers rose 16 per cent from last year to 114,000, according to Cheng.

Noting that the mainland’s eight-day “golden week” holiday would run until next Tuesday, he hoped there would be more arrivals from the other side of the border.

“Normally, mainlanders will head back to their hometowns for Lunar New Year celebrations before they start travelling around, starting from the third and fourth day [of the holiday],” Cheng said.

“Some [other] places in the region also enjoy Lunar New Year holidays, such as South Korea and countries from Southeast Asia. Tourist arrivals from these countries perform quite well.”

He noted that Hong Kong had a strong festive atmosphere, which could lure international travellers to the city.