The chairwoman of the Travel Industry Council, Gianna Hsu, said she estimates that around ten mainland tour groups will be coming to Hong Kong every day next month, after quarantine-free travel resumes for cross-border travellers.

Hsu told an RTHK programme on Thursday that she believes arrival figures from the mainland won't be too high initially, as there will be a quota in place for travellers, and manpower in the trade needs to be stepped-up.

"Will the tour groups come soon? As far as we know, yes, but there are not a lot of them. I believe there will be more after the Lunar New Year,” she said.

Meanwhile, Hsu said although Japan has decided to allow flights from Hong Kong to land in all of its airports – up from the seven designated ones – from Sunday, travel agencies might not have enough time to organise new tours to Japan during the Lunar New Year holidays.