Tourism Board executive director Dane Cheng Ting-yat said on Saturday the numbers in the past four days were “encouraging” as overall arrivals rose by 6 per cent from the same period in 2024, and he expected visits from across the border would continue to grow.
The city welcomed 564,000 mainland travellers, a 4 per cent increase from the same period last year, while the number of international visitors rose by 16 per cent to 114,000, according to Cheng.
Noting that the mainland’s eight-day “golden week” holiday would run until Tuesday next week, he said 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 told a radio show.
“Some [other] places in the region also enjoy the Lunar New Year holiday, such as South Korea and countries in Southeast Asia. Tourist arrivals from these countries perform quite well.”
He said the city had a strong festive atmosphere, which could attract international travellers.
