“We hope we can prepare well for the May 1 golden week holiday and be a city of hospitality, a city of courtesy and a city of good experiences,” he said in reply to a question on Hong Kong’s preparation ahead of the traditional holiday period.
The Labour Day “golden week” is a peak travel period for tourists from the mainland as they get a five-day holiday from May 1 onwards, with many opting to use the break as an opportunity to go on vacation.
Lee said that the government would actively prepare to attract more tourists for the holiday. He added that the tourism board and various sectors had already made preparations.
Hong Kong’s Tourism Board said on Tuesday that the city recorded a 38.6 per cent increase in the number of tourists arriving in Hong Kong in March compared with a year before, with over 3.40 million visitors.
Among those coming to the city, more than 70 per cent – or 2.47 million – were from the mainland.
The city has also recorded a 154.3 per cent increase in the overall tourist arrivals in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2023, with 11.2 million visitors arriving in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong expects 11 million border crossings at Easter and Ching Ming Festival
Hong Kong expects 11 million border crossings at Easter and Ching Ming Festival
In a keynote speech on Monday to mark the National Security Education Day, Xia Baolong, director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, expressed confidence in the city’s economic outlook but said it should also seek and embrace changes instead of only relying on traditional strengths.
He cautioned the city against using old thinking to solve new problems and to seek “constant breakthroughs”.
Lee said on Tuesday he had five takeaways from Xia’s remarks, one of them being that the city is going through a new phase of economic development.
1 million mainland Chinese tourists expected in Hong Kong for ‘golden week’
1 million mainland Chinese tourists expected in Hong Kong for ‘golden week’
“Hongkongers can always find opportunities amid changes, and break new ground as well as create new miracles,” he said. “[We] should understand major trends and face the changes.”
The city leader praised local business operators in different sectors for grasping new opportunities, noting that they had made plans to cater to changing tourists demands and consumption patterns.
Hong Kong’s retail and catering sectors experienced a lacklustre Easter holiday as the city recorded an outflow of 1.7 million people. Only about 400,000 tourists came over from mainland China and abroad during the four-day break, which was not a Chinese holiday.
City residents have also taken to crossing the border to spend money since it reopened, citing better value for goods and services.
