Hong Kong’s Immigration Department reported that by 21:00 on 3 April—day one of the territory’s combined five-day Easter and Qingming holiday—about 1.1 million inbound and outbound movements had passed through the city’s control points. Roughly 770,000 were departures, 680,000 of them by Hong Kong residents, while 320,000 arrivals helped push hotel occupancy on Hong Kong Island above 88 percent.
![Hong Kong logs 1.1 million cross-border passenger movements on first day of Easter-Qingming break]()
Amid the rush, many travelers still need to secure or update their permits for Mainland China. VisaHQ can streamline that process by letting users complete applications online, track their status, and receive expert guidance; its dedicated China portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) covers everything from single-entry tourist visas to rapid same-day permits, helping passengers avoid administrative delays during peak travel periods.
The Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line checkpoints handled the bulk of land traffic to Shenzhen, reflecting pent-up demand since Shenzhen extended same-day multiple-entry permits for Hong Kong residents in March. At the airport, outbound tour groups to northern Mainland cities surged, aided by expanded e-channel access for tour escorts and the continuing waiver of China’s 15-day visa requirement for Hong Kong permanent residents travelling with organised groups. The Immigration Department projects a total of 6.44 million passenger movements between 3 and 7 April, up 12 percent on 2025’s Easter-Qingming overlap. Travel-intensive sectors—luxury retail, meetings and incentive travel, and premium coach operators—are poised for a revenue spike as visitors take advantage of the strengthened Hong Kong dollar and duty-free shopping before onward travel to the mainland. Corporate mobility managers moving staff between Hong Kong and Guangdong during the period should anticipate queues of 45-60 minutes at Lo Wu during peak evening hours and consider routing via the Express Rail Link’s West Kowloon terminus, where additional shuttle frequencies have cut average wait times to under 20 minutes. Longer term, the data bolsters Hong Kong’s pitch as a super-connector for the Greater Bay Area. Authorities are accelerating trials of a “one-stamp, two-checks” immigration model at the Shenzhen Bay Bridge, slated for rollout before the Golden Week rush in October 2026.
Amid the rush, many travelers still need to secure or update their permits for Mainland China. VisaHQ can streamline that process by letting users complete applications online, track their status, and receive expert guidance; its dedicated China portal (https://www.visahq.com/china/) covers everything from single-entry tourist visas to rapid same-day permits, helping passengers avoid administrative delays during peak travel periods.
The Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line checkpoints handled the bulk of land traffic to Shenzhen, reflecting pent-up demand since Shenzhen extended same-day multiple-entry permits for Hong Kong residents in March. At the airport, outbound tour groups to northern Mainland cities surged, aided by expanded e-channel access for tour escorts and the continuing waiver of China’s 15-day visa requirement for Hong Kong permanent residents travelling with organised groups. The Immigration Department projects a total of 6.44 million passenger movements between 3 and 7 April, up 12 percent on 2025’s Easter-Qingming overlap. Travel-intensive sectors—luxury retail, meetings and incentive travel, and premium coach operators—are poised for a revenue spike as visitors take advantage of the strengthened Hong Kong dollar and duty-free shopping before onward travel to the mainland. Corporate mobility managers moving staff between Hong Kong and Guangdong during the period should anticipate queues of 45-60 minutes at Lo Wu during peak evening hours and consider routing via the Express Rail Link’s West Kowloon terminus, where additional shuttle frequencies have cut average wait times to under 20 minutes. Longer term, the data bolsters Hong Kong’s pitch as a super-connector for the Greater Bay Area. Authorities are accelerating trials of a “one-stamp, two-checks” immigration model at the Shenzhen Bay Bridge, slated for rollout before the Golden Week rush in October 2026.
