The Hong Kong Immigration Department estimates that 9.03 million passengers will travel between Hong Kong and Mainland China via sea, land and air during the upcoming Ching Ming and Easter festive season, from April 1-10.
Authorities project that 83.5% of these travellers (7.54 million) will use land crossing points, and that the busiest days will be April 7 and April 10, when more than half a million people are estimated to cross the border into and out of the SAR on each of these days.
Lo Wu is expected to be the busiest crossing with 220,000 passengers expected to use this point daily during this 10-day period, followed by the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line (147,000 passengers per day) and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (138,000 passengers per day).
Hong Kong eased Covid-related travel restrictions earlier this year, first by resuming quarantine-free cross-border travel with the Mainland in January, and then scrapping vaccination requirements for tourists the following month. The city has also ended group-gathering limits and mask-wearing restrictions, thus paving the way for tourists to enter the city.
Tourism in Hong Kong seems to be on the uptick ever since the government suspended its anti-Covid measures. In February, 1.42 million visitors entered the SAR, which is the first time the figure crossed the 1-million mark since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the city in February 2020. In addition, the Hong Kong International Airport handled more than 2 million passengers last month, another post-pandemic first.
The government also launched the Hello Hong Kong campaign to encourage tourists to visit the city. The highlight of this initiative is a 500,000 free airline ticket giveaway to visitors from South East Asia, Mainland China, Northeast Asia and other parts of the world.
However, there have been concerns about tourist-related traffic congestion and overcrowding in certain districts of the city. Authorities have said the government will look at ways to put crowd-control measures on group tours in place so that Hong Kong residents are not inconvenienced.
Header image credits: Hamedog via WikiCommons
