HK draws 2,000 mainland tour groups on LNY golden week

About 2,000 mainland tour groups of 70,000 tourists are expected to visit Hong Kong during the Lunar New Year, with an average of 250 groups daily, according to the Travel Industry Authority.

The authority cited tourism industry figures that the tour groups are expected to account for some five percent of total mainland inbound visitors.

“Similar to previous years, the majority of mainland inbound travelers during the Lunar New Year golden week holiday would visit Hong Kong under the Individual Visit Scheme,” it said.

“Tourists joining group tours are more likely to visit Hong Kong [after the holiday] to avoid the peak seasons.”

The Lunar New Year holiday will span eight days from next Tuesday (Jan 28) to February 4.

The authority said it had reminded licensed travel agencies and tour guides to strictly comply with the Travel Industry Ordinance and Directives for Licenses, including implementation of crowd and traffic control measures, to avoid having excessive tour groups visiting the same place.

“The TIA will continue to monitor the data registration and information of mainland tour groups, and will implement inspection and crowd management measures [in time],” it said.

To strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of inbound tour group members, the authority and Customs and Excise Department on Thursday inspected inbound tour group-registered shops and shopping hotspots in Tsim Sha Tsui, To Kwa Wan-and Hung Hom.

The authority will also deploy additional manpower to monitor activities involving a large number of inbound tour groups including major control points, registered shops and popular tourist attractions.

(Rachael Ng)