​The eight-consecutive-day National Day Golden Week (September 29 to October 6) ended yesterday (October 6) with overall number of inbound Mainland visitors matching earlier estimate, and different arrangements for receiving travellers were rolled out smoothly, a Government spokesman said today (October 7).

     The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, said, “We thank different government departments, including the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Immigration Department (ImmD), the Transport Department, various District Offices, and various tourism-related organisations, including the Travel Industry Authority (TIA), the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, major tourist attractions and the hotel industry, for their unreserved effort in bringing to visitors to Hong Kong a fabulous travel experience during the National Day Golden Week. I hope visitors can feel the festive ambience and unique metropolitan glamour of Hong Kong. The Government will review various operations in order to prepare for our future co-ordination work and enhancement of visitors’ experience.”

     ImmD recorded a total of around 1.1 million Mainland visitors visiting Hong Kong through Hong Kong’s sea, land and air control points during the eight-day National Day Golden Week, matching the estimate made before the holidays of around 1 million visitors. The daily average was around 140 000 inbound Mainland visitors, 10 per cent higher than the Labour Day Holiday Golden Week. Compared with the pre-pandemic level, it reached about 85 per cent and 70 per cent of the National Day Golden Weeks from 2017 to 2019 and 2017 to 2018 respectively.

     Arrival of Mainland inbound visitors peaked on the National Day with around 180 000 visitors arriving Hong Kong. Express Rail Link West Kowloon received the highest daily average number of inbound Mainland visitors, followed by Lok Ma Chau Spur Line. Operation at control points and transport services were smooth.

     As for large-scale events, the Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnivals held at Victoria Park from September 23 to October 2 attracted around 200 000 visitors; the Tai Hang fire dragon dance parade held from September 28 to September 30 attracted around 48 000 participants; the National Day Fireworks Display held at Victoria Harbour on October 1 attracted around 430 000 spectators. With effective crowd control measures implemented by different government departments and relevant organisations and their active coordination with the trade, various activities completed orderly.

     Visitors went to different parts of Hong Kong during the National Day Golden Week, and major tourist attractions, including the West Kowloon Cultural District, Ocean Park, Hong Kong Disneyland, the Peak Tram, Ngong Ping 360, were with high volumes of visitor flow. Visitor figures of individual tourist attractions even approached or exceeded the level before the pandemic, and their crowd management was also effective. In addition, according to HKTB’s statistics, the overall hotel occupancy rate reached 90 per cent. Among the Mainland visitors visited Hong Kong, 45 per cent of them were overnight visitors, similar to the proportion of the National Day Golden Weeks from 2017 to 2018. Visitors’ satisfaction rates regarding catering, shopping and sightseeing reached 90 per cent or above.

     As expected by the Government and the trade, the National Day Golden Week was not the peak season for tour groups. According to TIA’s registration information, around 780 Mainland inbound tour groups visited Hong Kong during the National Day Golden Week, involving around 26 800 visitors which account for around two per cent of the overall number of visitors. Tour groups were generally in good order, and so far TIA has not received complaints on coerced shopping during the National Day Golden Week period.