A second Immigration Department release analysed by VisaHQ drills into the composition of New-Year arrivals: 659,090 Mainland tourists entered Hong Kong between 31 December and 3 January, a 72 percent increase on the same window last year. They made up 79 percent of all leisure arrivals (836,544). Beijing’s decision to grant a three-day nationwide New-Year break clearly encouraged short-haul trips, mirroring patterns seen during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Hotel operators welcomed fuller rooms—average rates ticked up by single digits—but retailers reported only modest spending; unions said front-line staff saw more “window-shoppers than big spenders.” Tourism academics argue Hong Kong must diversify beyond shopping to convert footfall into higher per-capita spend, citing experiential venues like the West Kowloon Cultural District as under-leveraged.
For mobility professionals, the surge reiterates the need to secure accommodation early when relocating staff in the first quarter. Serviced-apartment providers report waiting lists for February moves, and some companies are negotiating flexible check-in dates or short-term serviced offices until apartments free up.
![Mainland Tourist Arrivals Leap 72 % as Extended Holiday Drives 659,000 Visits]()
In addition to its monitoring tools, VisaHQ’s dedicated Hong Kong portal (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) lets corporate travel managers run instant visa checks, delegate application paperwork, and track renewals in a single dashboard—capabilities that simplify relocations and business travel during peak periods.
The data also highlight the growing complexity of travel-document compliance. Although Mainland visitors can now clear e-Channels on a PRC electronic passport if transiting onward, those staying in Hong Kong for meetings longer than 14 days still need a business-visit extension—a nuance that HR should track.
VisaHQ’s Hong Kong platform is marketing a “holiday-surge alert” service that pushes checkpoint and hotel-rate data to corporate clients, enabling them to time rotations away from congestion. The tool may prove handy again during the Lunar-New-Year peak in February.
Hotel operators welcomed fuller rooms—average rates ticked up by single digits—but retailers reported only modest spending; unions said front-line staff saw more “window-shoppers than big spenders.” Tourism academics argue Hong Kong must diversify beyond shopping to convert footfall into higher per-capita spend, citing experiential venues like the West Kowloon Cultural District as under-leveraged.
For mobility professionals, the surge reiterates the need to secure accommodation early when relocating staff in the first quarter. Serviced-apartment providers report waiting lists for February moves, and some companies are negotiating flexible check-in dates or short-term serviced offices until apartments free up.
In addition to its monitoring tools, VisaHQ’s dedicated Hong Kong portal (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) lets corporate travel managers run instant visa checks, delegate application paperwork, and track renewals in a single dashboard—capabilities that simplify relocations and business travel during peak periods.
The data also highlight the growing complexity of travel-document compliance. Although Mainland visitors can now clear e-Channels on a PRC electronic passport if transiting onward, those staying in Hong Kong for meetings longer than 14 days still need a business-visit extension—a nuance that HR should track.
VisaHQ’s Hong Kong platform is marketing a “holiday-surge alert” service that pushes checkpoint and hotel-rate data to corporate clients, enabling them to time rotations away from congestion. The tool may prove handy again during the Lunar-New-Year peak in February.
