Travellers passing through Hong Kong expected to rise 15pc but mainland China visitors may decline

The Immigration Department is expecting a jump of almost 15 per cent in the number of people - including Hongkongers - passing through the territory's control points during the upcoming Labour Day holiday, despite worries expressed by a veteran tourist insider that inbound tour bookings had fallen sharply.

The department projected that most of the 3.56 million people would pass through land boundary control points and the busiest would be Lo Wu, with a daily average of about 271,000 travelling through that crossing from April 30 to May 3.

The latest prediction came after the tourism sector rolled out a month-long citywide campaign to attract tourists and boost consumer spending in the wake of falling visitor numbers over the Easter and Ching Ming festivals.

But it is understood that a "majority" of the expected 3.56 million passengers will be Hongkongers. The proximity of the May 1 holiday to the weekend and the campaign are also expected to attract visitors to Hong Kong.

However, Ricky Tse Kam-ting, chairman of the Hong Kong Inbound Tour Operators Association, said bookings for mainland tour groups so far were down 30 per cent for the Labour Day break compared with the same period last year.

Mainland tour agencies no longer put Hong Kong as their top priority, he said.