May Day visitor surge gives Hong Kong tourism boost

The gloom hanging over Hong Kong's tourism industry - fuelled by warnings over political uncertainty and a mainland economic slowdown - lifted briefly yesterday when official figures revealed a 22 per cent year-on-year rise in the number of visitors to the city on the first day of the May Day holiday.

But news of a numbers surge - including a 24 per cent year-on-year rise in the number of mainland people who arrived in the SAR compared to May 1 last year - was tempered by data which shows that people are using the city as a transit point to third countries, rather than a destination in itself.

The figures - released by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Greg So Kam-leung and the Immigration Department - also hinted at a rise in the number of day-trippers, a phenomenon that will have obvious implications for the amount of money spent.

So said a conclusion on the situation could not be made on the figures for one day, adding: "Frontline retail staff would be most familiar with the situation ... the government will continue discussions with businesses on how to boost the economy and develop tourism healthily.''

However, Travel Industry Council chairman Michael Wu Siu-ieng was more cautious. "Mainland people are more interested in venturing overseas. With a limited number of flights across the border, sometimes they take off from the Hong Kong airport," Wu said.

Among overall arrivals, mainland visitors increased by a slightly higher 24 per cent to 177,056 on Friday, while other travellers went up 14.7 per cent to 55,800, So said.

Last month, the central government announced a change in permit policy for Shenzhen permanent residents, capping the number of trips they can make to Hong Kong under the multiple-entry permit scheme at once per week.