Chinese New Year Arrivals to Hong Kong from Mainland China surge by 13.5%

Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong from Mainland China during the Lunar New Year holiday (6-17 February) surged by 13.5% to 729,614, despite the severe snowstorms that impacted the travel sentiments and plans of Mainland visitors, especially those from non-Guangdong regions. This brings total arrivals from all markets during this period to 1,072,648, 10.2% more than in last year’s Lunar New Year holiday.

Hong Kong Tourism Board Chairman The Hon James Tien said that the Board was strongly encouraged by the higher-than-expected growth of Mainland arrivals in the face of the adverse weather conditions, which reaffirmed Hong Kong’s draw as a destination to enjoy the “Golden Week” holiday.

“The increase in arrivals could be attributed to visits by Mainland visitors, especially those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme, during the latter part of the holiday as the weather conditions improved,” he said. “Also, some Mainland visitors switched their travel destination from Mainland cities to Hong Kong due to the poor weather in some provinces.”

“While we have to wait for another eight months before the next Golden Week in October, we do see new windows of promoting travel to Hong Kong under the Mainland’s new holiday arrangements,” Mr Tien explained. “As far as Guangdong province is concerned, one of our promotional focuses will be weekend family travel. As for farther and non-Guangdong regions, such as Beijing and Shanghai, we’ll promote Hong Kong as the ideal short-break destination, and encourage Mainland visitors to come to Hong Kong during the combined festive holidays and weekends.”

Under the new holiday arrangements, the Labour Day Golden Week holidays will be reduced to one day, while three traditional festivals, namely Ching Ming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-autumn Festival, will be designated statutory holidays, resulting in a number of extended weekends during the year.

See also: Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals for December 2007 and other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Visitor Arrivals, Hong Kong, Chinese New Year