Barely 24 hours after the Christmas Day record, Hong Kong’s Immigration Department tallied another 1.18 million passenger movements on 26 December, cementing the city’s return as a hub for rapid cross-boundary travel. Of the 622,000 arrivals, 75,000 were mainland visitors—most via West Kowloon High-Speed Rail Station—while 558,000 departures were dominated by holidaying Hongkongers.
Checkpoint data show that inbound mainland tourists favoured rail, reflecting the high-frequency services now operating on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and Shenzhen Bay remained the top three land crossings, together handling almost two-thirds of all traffic. The steady stream has boosted holiday retail takings; the Hong Kong Retail Management Association projects a 12 percent year-on-year rise in seasonal sales, fuelled partly by duty-free allowances that let mainlanders re-import luxury goods tax-free.
Travel planners finalising cross-border itineraries may also find it useful to secure entry documents online: VisaHQ’s Hong Kong portal (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) offers expedited visa processing, real-time status tracking and bilingual support for both corporate teams and individual visitors, helping travellers avoid last-minute surprises at immigration checkpoints.
![Boxing Day Sees 1.18 Million People Cross Hong Kong’s Land, Sea and Air Checkpoints]()
For businesses, the trend underlines the importance of contingency planning. Corporate shuttle services reported delays of up to 40 minutes at Lo Wu after 6 p.m., highlighting the value of pre-booking e-Channel access and advising staff to avoid departure peaks. Companies that rely on same-day courier of prototypes between Shenzhen and Science Park should schedule pick-ups before 3 p.m. to sidestep evening congestion.
The Immigration Department expects total holiday traffic (24 Dec–4 Jan) to top 11.5 million—about 85 percent of the 2019 level. To manage the load, extra inspection counters and crowd-management barriers have been installed at high-volume crossings, and a joint command centre is pushing real-time updates to the "HK-CrossBorder" mobile app.
Mobility managers should also note that the new “Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles” pilot, due to open in early 2026, will add private-car movements to an already busy land network. Firms with car-pool arrangements might want to reassess parking-lot contracts on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge artificial island, where quotas for mainland-plated vehicles will be allocated.
Checkpoint data show that inbound mainland tourists favoured rail, reflecting the high-frequency services now operating on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and Shenzhen Bay remained the top three land crossings, together handling almost two-thirds of all traffic. The steady stream has boosted holiday retail takings; the Hong Kong Retail Management Association projects a 12 percent year-on-year rise in seasonal sales, fuelled partly by duty-free allowances that let mainlanders re-import luxury goods tax-free.
Travel planners finalising cross-border itineraries may also find it useful to secure entry documents online: VisaHQ’s Hong Kong portal (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) offers expedited visa processing, real-time status tracking and bilingual support for both corporate teams and individual visitors, helping travellers avoid last-minute surprises at immigration checkpoints.
For businesses, the trend underlines the importance of contingency planning. Corporate shuttle services reported delays of up to 40 minutes at Lo Wu after 6 p.m., highlighting the value of pre-booking e-Channel access and advising staff to avoid departure peaks. Companies that rely on same-day courier of prototypes between Shenzhen and Science Park should schedule pick-ups before 3 p.m. to sidestep evening congestion.
The Immigration Department expects total holiday traffic (24 Dec–4 Jan) to top 11.5 million—about 85 percent of the 2019 level. To manage the load, extra inspection counters and crowd-management barriers have been installed at high-volume crossings, and a joint command centre is pushing real-time updates to the "HK-CrossBorder" mobile app.
Mobility managers should also note that the new “Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles” pilot, due to open in early 2026, will add private-car movements to an already busy land network. Firms with car-pool arrangements might want to reassess parking-lot contracts on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge artificial island, where quotas for mainland-plated vehicles will be allocated.
