‘Golden week’ break to attract 850 mainland Chinese tours to Hong Kong. But is it enough?

Hong Kong is expected to receive more tour groups from mainland China during this year’s National Day “golden week” holiday than in 2023, but industry leaders have said numbers are still unsatisfactory and called for better plans to attract more visitors.

The representatives made the call on Wednesday in a bid to boost tourism in the city as the sector faced challenges, such as trending solo and one-day trips.

Sara Leung Fong-yuen, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Tourism Industry Employees General Union, said the 850 mainland tour groups expected in the city during the National Day period were not satisfactory.

“The situation is not ideal. There are more solo trips, as well as visitors on one-day journeys. There are not many tourists staying overnight in Hong Kong,” she told a radio programme.

“During the ‘golden week’ holidays before 2018, 300 to 500 mainland tour groups visited Hong Kong every day, so it is not actually ideal when the estimated number cannot exceed 1,000 now,” she said.