Hong Kong welcomed more than 4.7 million visitors in January, the highest monthly figure in the post-pandemic period, the city’s tourism minister revealed on Tuesday, adding that she expected more arrivals in the coming year.
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui said preliminary data for January showed 4.74 million visitors entered Hong Kong, including 3.73 million from mainland China, representing year-on-year increases of 24 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.
Both figures were records for the total number of visitors and mainland tourists entering Hong Kong in a single month since the pandemic subsided, she told a meeting of the legislature’s economic development panel.
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Law said she expected the surge to continue, given the good start of the Lunar New Year “golden week” holiday.
“This golden week has brought us a great start, and in 2025, we are expecting even more visitors to come to Hong Kong. It’s truly an opportunity-filled year ahead,” she said.
Law said the main attractions in various districts were bustling with visitors over the golden week, and tourists could be seen at flower markets, parades, the fireworks show, horse-racing events, temples and on hiking trails.
During the first seven days of the mainland’s golden week holiday, which started on January 28, the number of visitors reached nearly 1.25 million, with more than 1.06 million visitors from the mainland, she said.
The overall hotel occupancy rate reached 90 per cent, Law added.
During the same period, the city welcomed more than 2,000 inbound tour groups from the mainland, with over 440 arriving on the third day of Lunar New Year last Friday, a record for a single day.
The number of mainland visitors was boosted by the resumption on December 1 of a multiple-entry travel scheme for Shenzhen residents, who can make an unlimited number of visits to the city in a year.
Lawmaker Chow Man-kong asked Law at the meeting whether discussions would be held with the central government to extend the policy to the other eight mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area.
She said discussions would continue with the central government, but added that Beijing had already provided numerous favourable measures for Hong Kong.
She encouraged the tourism industry to make the best use of the existing benefits to ensure that visitors had a memorable experience and would return repeatedly.
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