Group travellers taking Hong Kong high-speed train to mainland China may rise 30%

The number of people travelling in tour groups to mainland China via high-speed rail from Hong Kong may increase by 30 per cent this year, amid growing demand for the new transport mode, a leading travel agency has said.

Wing On Travel released the findings of a survey about travellers’ interest in the high-speed rail service, predicting the number of people visiting the mainland during the Easter holiday next month would more than double compared with the same period last year.

The survey, conducted on 4,309 people between March 7 and 13, revealed that 91 per cent of respondents expressed interest in travelling across the border by high-speed train, while 65 per cent had already done so.

“There is a 20 per cent increase in those travelling in tour groups by high-speed train in the first quarter of this year, compared with 2024,” agency general manager Simon Ma Sai-man said.

“With the opening of new high-speed rail stations such as Zhangjiajie and Jiuzhaigou, we estimate that there will be a 30 per cent increase this year, based on the trend.”

He also said that thanks to the high-speed rail, travel to the mainland rebounded much faster than to other distant locations because many airlines had not resumed their pre-pandemic capacity yet.

People who choose not to visit Japan will go to South Korea, Taiwan, the mainland, Europe or the Mediterranean region, among other destinations, according to Ma.