Labour Day Golden Week began on Wednesday with the highlight of the pyrotechnic display over Victoria Harbour, as Hong Kong welcomed 460,000 inbound travelers throughout the day.
Some representatives of the tourism industry expressed satisfaction with the number of tourists.
Hong Kong Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui Ting-pong said on Thursday that the number of mainland visitors, accounting for 180,000 of the total yesterday, was ideal and on par with the figures from last year.
He said the numbers would have been even higher if not affected by the weather conditions and forecasts.
Chui mentioned that many visitors came specifically to watch the pyrotechnic display and attributed this to the promotion efforts of the government and online influencers on Chinese social media platforms like Xiaohongshu.
When asked about the more than 195,000 outbound Hong Kong residents recorded yesterday, Chui said it is normal for locals to take advantage of the holiday and travel northbound.
The tourism veteran also stated that the overall hotel occupancy rate was satisfying.
Alan Chan Chung-yee, chief operations officer of Miramar Group, said there was a surge in same-day bookings on Wednesday (May 1), with the hotel occupancy rate increasing to 93 percent from 82 percent.
Wholesale and retail sector lawmaker Peter Shiu Ka-fai expressed his satisfaction with the number of inbound tourists on May 1. He noted that many malls offered promotions, while the sales of jewelry and cosmetics were also satisfying.
However, he acknowledged that the spending and travel patterns of tourists have changed a lot compared to pre-pandemic life and emphasized the need to adjust and reform future tourism arrangements.
“We need to come up with more effective strategies to attract tourists,” Shiu said.
Hong Kong United Times丨香港聯合時報丨HKUT 