All set to welcome 30,000 mainland group tourists

The tourism and transport sectors have been prepared for the 30,000 group tourists coming from the mainland for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day long holiday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said.

Lee said a series of Night Vibes events will be launched, including night markets in Wan Chai, Kennedy Town and Kwun Tong harborfront.

Tourism Industry Authority expects 720 mainland tour groups involving about 30,000 tourists, will visit the SAR during their eight-day long holiday starting from Friday, with 70 percent of them arriving through Heung Yuen Wai control point.

The authority said they have reminded travel agencies and the tour guides to strictly comply with the Travel Industry Ordinance and avoid an excessive number of visitors gathering in the same district simultaneously.

Lee said the Cultural, Sports and Tourism Bureau has been preparing to handle the surge in visitors in various aspects, and the tourism sector has taken the initiative to provide support for complementary tourism facilities, arrange activities and upgrade tourist attractions.

"We will deploy additional manpower, especially at cross-boundary locations where we expect a large number of traffic. We've also deployed more manpower at the airport as well," he said.

More than 100,000 vehicles crossed the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in the past 10 days, said a person in charge of the checkpoint.

The person in charge expects the traffic flow to reach a record high during the upcoming holiday, with 140,000 vehicles crossing the mega bridge daily, adding they have formulated a plan to cope with the rising travelers, including deploying additional police officers and strengthening the coordination among relevant departments.

Lee also expects hundreds of thousands of locals and tourists to watch the fireworks display along Victoria Harbour on October 1.

The fireworks display after a four-year hiatus is part of the Night Vibes Hong Kong campaign, which Lee said would allow tourists to have a taste of the nightlife in Hong Kong.

The campaign will be on until early next year, with a wide range of events proposed by various organizations and business corporations will be actively coordinated by the relevant government departments, Lee said.

According to a survey conducted by TKS Exhibition Services Ltd between September 12 and 14, night markets are highly popular as 75 percent of 2,025 respondents said they would "definitely" or "likely" visit the night markets, 90 percent of whom would try food offered at the stalls. But the company found that only 40 percent of the respondents indicated to spend more than HK$500.

K11 Group yesterday said K11 MUSEA successfully captured a 30 percent increase in footfall last weekend, with the "Night Market by The Sea" commencing last Friday at the shopping mall and Avenue of Stars, compared to the previous weekend.

The company anticipates continuous growth in visitors at the mall during the coming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday when the night market marches into the second week.

Separately, KMB will offer 25 percent off on designated overnight routes from this month to November to encourage Hongkongers to come out and enjoy the night vibe.

People can also take the tram free of charge on Friday in celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Due to the temporary closure of Victoria Harbour during the fireworks display on October 1, seven trips between Central and Cheung Chau and six trips between Central and Mui Wo from 7.30pm to 9.40pm will be cancelled.