The 15th National Games officially opened on 9 November in Guangzhou, marking the first time Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have jointly staged China’s premier multi-sport event. While the sporting spotlight is on the athletes, the logistics underpinning the Games are proving just as significant for the region’s global mobility agenda.
In preparation, the three governments have spent months stress-testing immigration, customs and transport links. Additional e-lanes have been activated at the West Kowloon high-speed-rail terminus, Lo Wu and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge control points, allowing holders of the Hong Kong Smart ID, Home Return Permit or electronically-enabled Mainland Travel Permit to clear in under 20 seconds. The Hong Kong Immigration Department has redeployed 300 officers to the land border at peak hours and set up pop-up help desks for foreign delegations, while Mainland authorities are running dedicated charter shuttles from Guangzhou Baiyun Airport to Hong Kong hotels.
![National Games opening unlocks seamless cross-border travel across Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area]()
For business travellers, the Games have created an unexpected dividend. Cathay Pacific and Greater Bay Airlines added more than 20 extra pairs of flights on the Hong Kong–Guangzhou and Hong Kong–Shenzhen routes during the 10-day event, and ferry operators are running midnight sailings to and from the Pazhou Canton Fair complex. Corporates hosting clients in different GBA cities can therefore schedule same-day meetings with fewer overnight stays, cutting accommodation costs at a time of tight travel budgets.
Policy-makers view the operation as a live rehearsal for the Greater Bay Area “one-hour living circle” vision, in which people and goods move freely within 60 minutes. Real-time data gathered from e-gates, licence-plate RFID readers and passenger-flow sensors will feed into a joint task-force report on permanent facilitation measures, expected in early 2026. Observers say successful implementation would strengthen Hong Kong’s role as an international gateway and talent magnet, particularly for events tourism and professional-services assignments.
In practical terms, firms should alert travellers that weekend traffic surges are still expected on Hong Kong’s roads leading to the bridge and high-speed-rail station. Advisories recommend allowing an extra 45 minutes for pre-departure security checks and having digital copies of travel documents ready for inspection. Nevertheless, the initial feedback from corporates and logistics providers is overwhelmingly positive, suggesting that the Games could be a turning-point for friction-free mobility in the GBA.
In preparation, the three governments have spent months stress-testing immigration, customs and transport links. Additional e-lanes have been activated at the West Kowloon high-speed-rail terminus, Lo Wu and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge control points, allowing holders of the Hong Kong Smart ID, Home Return Permit or electronically-enabled Mainland Travel Permit to clear in under 20 seconds. The Hong Kong Immigration Department has redeployed 300 officers to the land border at peak hours and set up pop-up help desks for foreign delegations, while Mainland authorities are running dedicated charter shuttles from Guangzhou Baiyun Airport to Hong Kong hotels.
For business travellers, the Games have created an unexpected dividend. Cathay Pacific and Greater Bay Airlines added more than 20 extra pairs of flights on the Hong Kong–Guangzhou and Hong Kong–Shenzhen routes during the 10-day event, and ferry operators are running midnight sailings to and from the Pazhou Canton Fair complex. Corporates hosting clients in different GBA cities can therefore schedule same-day meetings with fewer overnight stays, cutting accommodation costs at a time of tight travel budgets.
Policy-makers view the operation as a live rehearsal for the Greater Bay Area “one-hour living circle” vision, in which people and goods move freely within 60 minutes. Real-time data gathered from e-gates, licence-plate RFID readers and passenger-flow sensors will feed into a joint task-force report on permanent facilitation measures, expected in early 2026. Observers say successful implementation would strengthen Hong Kong’s role as an international gateway and talent magnet, particularly for events tourism and professional-services assignments.
In practical terms, firms should alert travellers that weekend traffic surges are still expected on Hong Kong’s roads leading to the bridge and high-speed-rail station. Advisories recommend allowing an extra 45 minutes for pre-departure security checks and having digital copies of travel documents ready for inspection. Nevertheless, the initial feedback from corporates and logistics providers is overwhelmingly positive, suggesting that the Games could be a turning-point for friction-free mobility in the GBA.
