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HK attracts about 15m mainland travelers in first 5 months, up 10% year-on-year: official(Global Times) 08:29, June 09, 2025
The number of visitors to Hong Kong has continued to increase, as the city attracted about 20 million tourist trips in the first five months of this year, of which Chinese mainland tourists accounted for about three-quarters, with about 10-percent growth year-on-year, an official from Hong Kong said on Sunday.
The remarks were made by Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po in an official post.
Chan attributed the growth to a series of activities with different themes that were held in Hong Kong since the beginning of this year, covering culture, sports, and entertainment, bringing a continuous increase in the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong.
It is estimated that the events held in Hong Kong in the first half of this year will attract about 840,000 tourists to participate, and bring HK$3.3 billion ($420 million) in consumption and HK$1.8 billion in economic added value, he added.
There are also frequent travels between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.
Air China said on Sunday that from June 27, it will start a direct daily route between the Beijing Daxing International Airport and Hong Kong, taking the Beijing-Hong Kong route to seven flights per day combined from the Beijing Capital International Airport and the Beijing Daxing International Airport.
The Cathay Group said that it is offering customers even greater choice when traveling between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland this summer with an enhanced schedule providing close to 300 return flights per week during the peak period.
The group will increase its services to seven daily return flights to the Beijing Capital International Airport, together with a daily flight to the Beijing Daxing International Airport operated by HK Express, for a total of 56 return flights per week to Beijing's two major international airports.
In Shanghai, the group will increase its services to eight daily return flights to the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, along with 11 return flights per week to the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport. In total, Cathay Pacific will operate 67 return flights per week between Hong Kong and Shanghai.
These increased flight frequencies not only strengthen Cathay's direct services between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, but also cater to the growing two-way travel demand between the Chinese mainland and the global market, the company said.
About 1.1 million visitors came to Hong Kong during the May Day holidays, a year-on-year increase of 22 percent. Among them, visitors from the Chinese mainland increased by about 20 percent, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive John Lee said at a press briefing on May 6.
In addition, the People's Bank of China and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority are actively promoting the interconnection of the two places' fast payment systems, reported the Securities Times on Sunday.
The report said that the project is progressing smoothly, and some services are expected to be launched in the middle of this year.
In August last year, the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on the Cross-Boundary Linkage of Payment Systems between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, establishing a cooperation framework for the linkage.
In the second half of this year, Chan said that a number of cultural, sports and tourism events will be held in Hong Kong. In addition, new attractions, as well as the characteristics and hotspots of urban and rural suburbs, streets and alleys will attract a large number of tourists, and he is confident that the number of tourists will continue to rise throughout the year.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
