South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and mainland China are emerging as popular Lunar New Year destinations for Hongkongers this year, as residents take advantage of a calendar arrangement allowing them to enjoy nine consecutive days off by taking just two days of leave.
Travel industry representatives said the long break had “significantly stimulated” demand, with departures likely to reach a peak on February 14, just before the start of the holiday.
Moon Yau Moon-yee, assistant general manager at Sunflower Travel Services and vice-chairman of the Tourism Industry Employees’ General Union, said the demand for eight- to nine-day tours over the holiday had risen significantly.
“This year, office workers only need to take two days of leave to enjoy nine consecutive days off, which has greatly stimulated travel demand,” Yau said, adding that bookings for Yunnan province on the mainland had tripled compared with last year as travellers opted for longer itineraries.
Authorities said on Thursday that 11.38 million passengers, comprising both Hong Kong residents and visitors, were expected to cross the city’s borders from February 14 to 23.
The government did not provide a breakdown of outbound and inbound travellers but estimated that 9.52 million trips would be made via land boundary crossings, notably higher than the 7.34 million recorded over the same period last year.
Adding to the three-day Lunar New Year break, workers who take two days of annual leave on February 16 and 20 can enjoy a nine-day holiday from February 16 to 22.
Yau said Yunnan, the three northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, as well as Shandong, were among the most popular mainland destinations for organised groups.
In terms of international travel, Turkey, Morocco and Egypt were also seeing strong interest, alongside shorter European tours. But Asia remained the dominant draw.
According to Yau, favourable exchange rates and the continued popularity of Korean pop culture made South Korea the top destination for group travellers, followed by Taiwan and Thailand.
For independent travellers, Japan remained the most attractive destination, partly due to the weak yen.
Last December, 1.94 per cent more Hong Kong people visited Japan, year on year, at 291,000, while mainland visitor numbers to the country plunged 45 per cent to 330,400, according to Japan’s official statistics.
Fanny Yeung Shuk-fun, executive director of the Travel Industry Council, said that while the extended break might support long-haul trips to Europe or North America, most Hong Kong travellers were still opting for closer destinations.
She said the number of outbound tour groups was expected to be “more or less the same as last year” – about 1,500 throughout the holiday.
“In terms of proportion, [farther destinations] are definitely less popular than nearer places such as South Korea and Vietnam,” she said, noting that Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia continued to dominate overall bookings.
Within Southeast Asia, Vietnam – particularly Da Nang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc – was the most popular, according to Yeung.
The additions of 16 new destinations to the high-speed rail network last month had driven heavy travel to the mainland in January, but such trips were more constrained over Lunar New Year, with fewer ticket allocations for tour groups due to the spring holiday rush, Yeung said.
“The high-speed rail has to coordinate with the overall spring travel rush, so there are not many group booking quotas available,” she said.
As a result, there were fewer rail-based tour groups during Lunar New Year than over Christmas, with some travellers turning instead to flights or cross-border coaches.
Even so, tickets for many new high-speed rail destinations sold out quickly in the run-up to the holiday.
A check by the South China Morning Post earlier this week found that all classes of tickets from West Kowloon station to 14 of the 16 new mainland stops were fully booked for the weekend before the break.
Prices for outbound tours have edged up slightly this year.
Yeung said mainland tours were relatively more expensive over the festive period because of the tightened supply during the spring rush.
“Mainland tour groups are relatively more expensive because during the Lunar New Year period some places close and supply is lower than usual,” she said, adding that price increments for destinations such as South Korea and Vietnam generally fell within the single-digit percentage range.
Yau said travel agents had absorbed part of the recent price rises – including January’s adjustment to fuel surcharges and the rise in Hong Kong’s departure tax to HK$200 (US$25.60) – meaning overall package prices had seen only modest increases compared with last year.
Industry representatives also expressed optimism about inbound travel during the Lunar New Year holiday period, with the mainland enjoying its own nine-day holiday and major festive events taking place in Hong Kong.
Yeung said the city’s festivities, including the Lunar New Year parade on the first day, fireworks on the second day, Year of the Horse race day at the Sha Tin racecourse on the third day and the Chinese New Year Cup on the fifth day, were all expected to encourage visitors to extend their stay. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
