LNY tourist figures return to 2018 levels
The government said visitor arrivals during the Lunar New Year holiday reached 1.43 million, similar to the 2018 level. Preliminary figures from the Immigration Department showed more than 1.25 million, or 87 percent of the total, involved travellers from the mainland. That represented a daily average about 156,000 visits over the eight-day period that ended on Saturday, exceeding the 2018 level. Officials also said more than 80 percent of local hotel rooms were filled during the holiday period. Tourism chief Kevin Yeung said he believes visitors enjoyed their experience here thanks to various activities such as the parade and fireworks display. He added the authorities will continue to work on attracting more travellers to the city. Kevin Tsui, chief economist at consultant Orientis, told RTHK the rebound in tourist numbers was not unexpected.  But he also said not everyone was benefitting. "Money-wise, for food and beverage and retail [sectors], the rebound isn't complete yet. It's not as good as it used to be," he said, noting that business was down by at least 20 percent from 2018. "Local businesses need to think about new strategies to attract tourists to spend more money – not just tourists, local people as well." Chief Secretary Eric Chan, meanwhile, said arrangements to extend the opening hours of some border crossings over the Lunar New Year were successful in facilitating cross-border travel. He said the administration will take into account the number of travellers when considering making similar arrangements in future. It has been a bumper Spring Festival in domestic travel across the country as well. Official figures showed people made more journeys than ever before, with tourism revenue also at a new high. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, more than 474 million domestic trips were made during the eight-day break. That marked an increase of 34.3 percent year on year, and 19 percent up from 2019. Total spending by domestic tourists reached 632 billion yuan, up 47.3 percent from the same period last year and 7.7 percent from 2019.