Border points can’t operate overnight every day despite smooth running in LNY: Eric Chan

Border points cannot operate overnight every day and the arrangement should only be in place to meet the actual demand, otherwise it would be a waste of resources, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki said. 

Speaking on a radio program on Saturday, Chan said the number of inbound and outbound visitors stood at over 3.9 million during the first four days of the Lunar New Year and have resumed to pre-Covid levels already. 

Among the travellers, some 750,000 were visiting the city, higher than 2018’s figure at around 640,000, he also said. 

Chan continued that tourists stayed for 3.1 nights on average before Covid, and the length was extended to 3.4 nights in the fourth quarter of last year. 

Half of the visitors would stay overnight, and hotels were 90 percent full during the Lunar New Year holidays, similar to pre-Covid times, indicating signs that the tourism sector is reviving. 

Hong Kong will continue to hold mega events to lure tourists, Chan also said. 

The no.2 official added that the government is mulling to open self-guided traveling to more mainland cities and will study rebooting the “multi-entry” with one visa under the Individual Visit Scheme. 

Chan pointed out that the first batch of mainland cities Hong Kong opened for self-guided traveling were all first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. 

Yet, second- or third-tier cities should be considered as well due to the mainland’s rapid developments in recent years, Chan said. 

Still, this is not something the government can decide on its own and the government has yet to reach a consensus with its mainland counterparts.