Holiday breaks leaves tourism sector with high hopes

The chairman of the Travel Industry Council, Tommy Tam, expressed optimism about the upcoming National Day Golden Week holiday and its potential impact on Hong Kong's tourism sector. Speaking on an RTHK programme, Tam anticipated a surge in hotel bookings and overall spending as more mainland tourists were expected to travel to Hong Kong this year.

This increase in visitors was largely due to the proximity of the Mid-Autumn Festival to Golden Week, allowing mainlanders to enjoy a 13-day break by taking only three days of leave. Tam highlighted the encouraging number of visitors to Hong Kong during the Mid-Autumn Festival and believed that various sectors, including catering and high-end retail, would benefit from the influx of tourists.

He also noted that many individual travellers might make day trips to the city, while those joining tour groups could stay for two to three nights. Despite hotel room prices rising by double digits during the holiday, popular tourist districts had seen almost full bookings from October 1 to October 3, with Tam attributing this to the high demand.

Despite the Po Pin Chau trail in Sai Kung East Country Park being fully booked over the past weekend, approximately half of the registered visitors did not show up, leading lawmaker Christine Fong to call for authorities to consider implementing a deposit system to address this issue.