Newly released Immigration Department statistics show that Hong Kong residents made 1.44 million outbound trips from Lunar New Year’s Eve (16 February) to the third holiday day (19 February), a 20 % increase on the comparable 2019 festive period.(scmp.com) Mainland visitor arrivals, however, remained 13 % below pre-pandemic levels, underscoring a continuing structural shift toward outbound rather than inbound holiday demand.
The surge was fuelled by the first restriction-free Lunar New Year since 2020 and a nine-day ‘golden week’ that required only two days of annual leave, prompting residents to flood cross-border checkpoints. Land crossings via the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge and Shenzhen Bay handled the bulk of traffic, while Hong Kong International Airport processed more than 400,000 passengers over the four-day span.
Amid this travel rush, many Hongkongers found that visa and entry-permit requirements can still derail last-minute plans. VisaHQ’s Hong Kong portal (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) streamlines the process by letting individuals and corporate mobility teams arrange China visas—or documentation for more than 200 other destinations—entirely online, with real-time tracking and optional courier pickup, giving travellers peace of mind when flights and hotels are already at a premium.
![1.44 million Hongkongers left city during Lunar New Year break, Immigration data reveal]()
For global-mobility teams the data translate into stretched airline and hotel inventory on core Hong Kong–mainland trunk routes every time public holidays align. Corporates scheduling expatriate arrivals or rotation leave around Hong Kong peak festivals should lock in tickets three months ahead or route via secondary gateways such as Zhuhai.
The imbalance also affects local service providers. While hotels in tourist districts reported occupancy above 90 %, the net outflow of residents left some SMEs in urban retail areas understaffed. Government planners say enhanced e-Gate capacity—rolled out to seven-year-olds from last March—helped prevent the four-hour immigration queues seen in 2024.
Looking ahead, authorities forecast 9.5 million passenger movements between 14 and 23 February, 30 % up on last year—evidence that Hong Kong’s role as a super-connector is back in full force but is now driven by two-way demand rather than inbound reliance.
The surge was fuelled by the first restriction-free Lunar New Year since 2020 and a nine-day ‘golden week’ that required only two days of annual leave, prompting residents to flood cross-border checkpoints. Land crossings via the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge and Shenzhen Bay handled the bulk of traffic, while Hong Kong International Airport processed more than 400,000 passengers over the four-day span.
Amid this travel rush, many Hongkongers found that visa and entry-permit requirements can still derail last-minute plans. VisaHQ’s Hong Kong portal (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) streamlines the process by letting individuals and corporate mobility teams arrange China visas—or documentation for more than 200 other destinations—entirely online, with real-time tracking and optional courier pickup, giving travellers peace of mind when flights and hotels are already at a premium.
For global-mobility teams the data translate into stretched airline and hotel inventory on core Hong Kong–mainland trunk routes every time public holidays align. Corporates scheduling expatriate arrivals or rotation leave around Hong Kong peak festivals should lock in tickets three months ahead or route via secondary gateways such as Zhuhai.
The imbalance also affects local service providers. While hotels in tourist districts reported occupancy above 90 %, the net outflow of residents left some SMEs in urban retail areas understaffed. Government planners say enhanced e-Gate capacity—rolled out to seven-year-olds from last March—helped prevent the four-hour immigration queues seen in 2024.
Looking ahead, authorities forecast 9.5 million passenger movements between 14 and 23 February, 30 % up on last year—evidence that Hong Kong’s role as a super-connector is back in full force but is now driven by two-way demand rather than inbound reliance.
