Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law said she was confident Hong Kong would meet its target of 53.8 million visitor arrivals this year, thanks to a packed schedule of mega events, trade conventions and international conferences.

Speaking on a Commercial Radio programme on Saturday, she said “nine months have already passed and we have seen 40.7 million visitor arrivals and compared to last year, there has been a steady double-digit increase".

“There is a good reason for believing we can reach 53.8 million visitor arrivals by the end of the year because many more people visited the city during the Golden Week in October and we have so many good activities and mega events coming up.”

The city has had to cope with the challenge of rising fuel prices this year, which have reduced short-haul visitors – notably those from Southeast Asia – but arrivals from the mainland and long-haul markets remain healthy, Law pointed out.

Regarding the opening of Huanggang Port on Monday, she said the crossing provided tourists with an additional travel option.

She said officials would be monitoring to see which crossings travellers used during upcoming large concert events to guide future planning.

On the national day Golden Week, Law said arrivals from the mainland had exceeded expectations.

She said this was because the Golden Week came very soon after the Mid-Autumn Festival, which fell at the end of September this year, that saw a grand lantern carnival held at Victoria Park, which drew about 730,000 visitors.

Law said that with more convenient transport links and new checkpoints, the government would continue to stage distinctive, time-limited events to attract different types of visitors.




Edited by Tony Sabine