Hong Kong’s tourism sector may be well on the way to a rebound after setting a post-pandemic visitor record in the first month of this year. Case in point: More than 4.7 million visitors came to the city in January 2025, said Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law. The secretary made the announcement at a panel for economic development earlier this month, adding that the bulk of the visitors — 3.7 million — came from Mainland China, a 25% increase from last year.
Chinese New Year celebrations boost January figures
The city’s celebrations for Chinese New Year attracted nearly 1.3 million tourists in the first week of the Year of the Snake. “In the first seven days of the Golden Week, we have received 1.25 million visitors from the world, with 1.06 million of them from the Mainland. Non-Mainland visitors accounted for 180,000 people,” Law said. The Lunar New Year fireworks display, hiking trails, and other events helped attract visitors, she added.
On the Third day of the New Year —which fell on Friday, January 31 — 440 tourist groups from China entered the city, setting the highest single-day record for Mainland tour groups visiting Hong Kong. That day, one of the city’s biggest events took place: the Chinese New Year Raceday, which attracted an all-time-high number of tourists. In total, the first week of the new year saw more than 2,000 tourist groups from north of the border, and hotels across the city were at a 90% occupancy rate.
Hong Kong among global top destinations
The city seems to be returning to its tourism heyday, with Hong Kong ranking fourth on Euromonitor International’s Top 10 Cities for International Arrivals after Bangkok, Istanbul, and London. In addition, 298 million passengers passed through the territory’s control points in 2024, showing that Hong Kong is returning to the 300 million level achieved in 2019, right before the pandemic hit. Global visitors last year reached 44.5 million, with 34 million of them coming from China.
Header image credits: Hong Kong Tourism Board
