LCQ12: Attracting Mainland and overseas residents to visit Hong Kong
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Following is a question by the Hon Yiu Pak-leung and a written reply by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, in the Legislative Council today (July 2):
Question:
It has been reported that in recent years, our country has continued to expand the scope of its visa-free policy by, apart from expanding its unilateral visa-free policy to 47 countries, implementing a visa-free transit policy for 55 countries, thereby facilitating overseas visitors' travel to the Mainland. For Hong Kong, the Central Government added 10 Mainland cities (such cities) eligible for travelling to Hong Kong under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) in March and May last year, and resumed and expanded the multiple-entry IVS for Shenzhen residents to visit Hong Kong in December. Regarding efforts to attract Mainland and overseas residents to visit Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of, each month since June last year, (i) the number of overseas travelers entering the Mainland via Hong Kong, (ii) the number of overseas travelers leaving the Mainland via Hong Kong, (iii) such travelers' average length of stay in Hong Kong, and (iv) their nationalities (i.e. the top 10 nationalities with the highest number of visitors);
(2) in light of our country's relaxation of its visa-free transit policy for overseas travelers and extension of their maximum stay on the Mainland to 240 hours, whether the authorities have sought from the Central Government the inclusion of all Hong Kong checkpoints into the scope of the aforesaid national policy to further enhance Hong Kong's role as a tourism hub, thereby attracting more overseas travelers to enter and leave the Mainland via Hong Kong, and to travel around and consume in Hong Kong;
(3) of the monthly number of visitors from such cities to Hong Kong and their average length of stay in Hong Kong during the period from May last year to May this year;
(4) of the measures taken by the authorities (including publicity and promotional campaigns, encouraging airlines to increase flights between Hong Kong and such cities, and promoting co-operation between the tourism industries of Hong Kong and such cities) to attract more visitors from such cities to Hong Kong;
(5) since the resumption and expansion of the multiple-entry IVS for Shenzhen residents in December last year, of the monthly number of Shenzhen permanent residents and Shenzhen non-permanent residents holding residence permits visiting Hong Kong and their average length of stay in Hong Kong; and
(6) whether the authorities has discussed with the Central Government and sought to open up the multiple-entry IVS for residents of Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai to visit Hong Kong, with the aim of promoting trade and business exchanges and attracting more overnight visitors to Hong Kong; if so, of the details and the results of the discussions; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) expressed gratitude to the Central Government for the high regard and care for the development of Hong Kong's tourism industry as well as rolling out a number of measures benefiting Hong Kong's tourism industry in 2024, including the optimisation of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) to cover all provincial capitals in our country, and the resumption and expansion of the multiple-entry IVS for Shenzhen. The HKSARG will continue to make good use of the Central Government's measures benefitting Hong Kong to reinforce the Mainland visitor source market, and continue to liaise with the Mainland on facilitating international visitors' entry arrangements to the Mainland via Hong Kong, thereby underpinning Hong Kong's role as the international gateway to our country.
In consultation with the Transport and Logistics Bureau (TLB), the Security Bureau and the Immigration Department (ImmD), the consolidated reply to the question raised by Hon Yiu Pak-leung is as follows:
(1) and (2) According to the statistics provided by the ImmD, from June 2024 to May 2025, the number of overseas visitor arrivals entering and leaving the Mainland via Hong Kong is tabulated below by month:
| Month | Overseas visitor arrivals entering the Mainland via Hong Kong (Note) | Overseas visitor arrivals leaving the Mainland via Hong Kong (Note) |
| June 2024 | 114 786 | 100 802 |
| July 2024 | 108 415 | 112 026 |
| August 2024 | 105 113 | 112 495 |
| September 2024 | 101 833 | 108 361 |
| October 2024 | 164 025 | 142 087 |
| November 2024 | 141 048 | 145 419 |
| December 2024 | 150 178 | 144 960 |
| January 2025 | 122 436 | 122 168 |
| February 2025 | 102 805 | 94 093 |
| March 2025 | 145 936 | 135 408 |
| April 2025 | 174 529 | 173 381 |
| May 2025 | 133 831 | 132 137 |
| Total | 1 564 935 | 1 523 337 |
The ImmD does not maintain information on the average length of stay of the above visitors in Hong Kong. According to the information provided by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), amongst the inbound non-Mainland visitors from June 2024 to May 2025, 7.62 million arrivals were overnight visitors and their average length of stay in Hong Kong was 3.2 days.
According to the statistics provided by the ImmD, from June 2024 to May 2025, the top 10 nationalities of overseas visitors entering the Mainland via Hong Kong are tabulated below by month:
| Month/ Ranking | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| June 2024 |
USA | Singapore | Canada | Malaysia | Japan | India | Indonesia | Australia | South Korea | The Philippines |
| July 2024 |
USA | Canada | Malaysia | Japan | Singapore | India | Australia | UK | South Korea | The Philippines |
| August 2024 | USA | Canada | Singapore | Japan | Malaysia | India | UK | Australia | South Korea | The Philippines |
| September 2024 | USA | Malaysia | Canada | Singapore | Australia | Japan | India | South Korea | UK | Indonesia |
| October 2024 | USA | Canada | Malaysia | Singapore | Australia | India | Japan | UK | South Korea | Indonesia |
| November 2024 | USA | Singapore | Malaysia | Canada | Australia | Japan | India | South Korea | UK | Germany |
| December 2024 | USA | Singapore | Malaysia | Australia | Canada | Japan | South Korea | Indonesia | India | Thailand |
| January 2025 | USA | Australia | Canada | Singapore | Malaysia | South Korea | Japan | Indonesia | UK | Russia |
| February 2025 | USA | Malaysia | Canada | Japan | Singapore | Australia | South Korea | UK | The Philippines | Indonesia |
| March 2025 | USA | Singapore | Malaysia | Canada | Japan | Australia | South Korea | Indonesia | UK | India |
| April 2025 |
USA | India | Australia | Malaysia | Canada | Singapore | Japan | South Korea | UK | Thailand |
| May 2025 |
USA | Malaysia | Singapore | Canada | Japan | Australia | South Korea | India | Thailand | The Philippines |
According to the statistics provided by the ImmD, from June 2024 to May 2025, the top 10 nationalities of overseas visitors leaving the Mainland via Hong Kong are tabulated below by month:
| Month/ Ranking | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| June 2024 |
USA | Singapore | Malaysia | Canada | Japan | India | South Korea | Australia | Indonesia | UK |
| July 2024 |
USA | Canada | Malaysia | Singapore | Japan | India | Australia | UK | South Korea | Indonesia |
| August 2024 | USA | Canada | Japan | Singapore | Malaysia | India | UK | Australia | South Korea | France |
| September 2024 | USA | Malaysia | Singapore | Japan | Canada | India | Australia | South Korea | UK | Indonesia |
| October 2024 | USA | Canada | Malaysia | Australia | Singapore | India | Japan | UK | South Korea | Germany |
| November 2024 | USA | Singapore | Malaysia | Canada | Australia | Japan | South Korea | India | UK | France |
| December 2024 | USA | Singapore | Malaysia | Australia | Canada | Japan | South Korea | India | Indonesia | Thailand |
| January 2025 | USA | Australia | Singapore | South Korea | Canada | Malaysia | Japan | Indonesia | India | UK |
| February 2025 | USA | Malaysia | Canada | Australia | South Korea | Japan | Singapore | UK | Thailand | Indonesia |
| March 2025 |
USA | Singapore | Malaysia | Canada | Japan | Australia | South Korea | UK | India | Thailand |
| April 2025 |
USA | Australia | Malaysia | India | Canada | Singapore | Japan | Germany | Indonesia | South Korea |
| May 2025 |
USA | Canada | Malaysia | Singapore | Japan | India | South Korea | Australia | Thailand | UK |
Hong Kong has long been the gateway for overseas visitors to enter the Mainland, as well as a "super connector" and "super value-adder" linking up the Mainland with the rest of the world. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) has been committed to strengthening Hong Kong's position as an international tourism hub, and has been closely monitoring the visa-free policies introduced by our country. The CSTB will, on the basis of the existing 144-hour visa-free policy for Guangdong province, continue to discuss with the relevant ministries of the Central Government the arrangements to facilitate international visitors to enter the Mainland via Hong Kong, with a view to attracting more international visitors to take Hong Kong as their first stop or transit point in their multi-destination travel itineraries to our country, leveraging Hong Kong's role as a connector.
(3) to (6) The The IVS was expanded to Xi'an and Qingdao on March 6, 2024, and further expanded to Taiyuan, Hohhot, Harbin, Lhasa, Lanzhou, Xining, Yinchuan and Urumqi on May 27, 2024. For the period from May 2024 to May 2025, the number of Mainland visitor arrivals from the aforesaid 10 newly added cities is tabulated below by month:
| Month | Number of inbound Mainland visitor arrivals from the 10 newly added IVS cities |
| May 2024 | 38 015 |
| June 2024 | 33 148 |
| July 2024 | 49 274 |
| August 2024 | 59 471 |
| September 2024 | 35 039 |
| October 2024 | 47 503 |
| November 2024 | 44 603 |
| December 2024 | 49 612 |
| January 2025 | 85 864 |
| February 2025 | 63 017 |
| March 2025 | 49 189 |
| April 2025 | 45 763 |
| May 2025 | 41 842 |
The number of visitor arrivals to Hong Kong holding the multiple-entry IVS since its resumption and expansion in Shenzhen on December 1, 2024, is tabulated below by month:
| Month | Number of visitor arrivals to Hong Kong holding multiple-entry IVS |
| December 2024 | 224 961 |
| January 2025 | 305 779 |
| February 2025 | 275 681 |
| March 2025 | 373 369 |
| April 2025 | 386 610 |
| May 2025 | 435 703 |
The ImmD does not maintain information on the average length of stay of the above visitors in Hong Kong. According to the information provided by the HKTB, of the inbound Mainland visitors from May 2024 to May 2025, overnight visitors and same-day visitors were 16.11 million and 21.94 million respectively, and the average length of stay of overnight Mainland visitors in Hong Kong was 3.1 days.
To attract more residents from the 10 cities to visit Hong Kong, the CSTB, in collaboration with the HKTB, have rolled out a series of promotional activities. After the expansion of the IVS to Xi'an and Qingdao in March 2024, the CSTB and the HKTB led a delegation to visit the two cities, and launched large-scale advertisements in local commercial districts, achieving a total exposure of 23.8 million views. After the expansion of the IVS to all provincial capitals, trade representatives from the eight newly added IVS cities, including Taiyuan, Hohhot, Harbin and others, were invited for a familiarisation trip to Hong Kong in June 2024 to have an in-depth exploration of Hong Kong's local culture.
Starting from April 2024, the HKTB has distributed over 40 000 sets of discount vouchers, each valued at HK$200, to visitors from the 10 newly added IVS cities through travel agents and airlines, stimulating visitor spending in Hong Kong.
Moreover, the TLB has been working closely with the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) to strategically attract both local and non-local airlines to open new routes and increase flight frequencies through outreach teams, incentive schemes and policy facilitation measures, thereby further strengthening the air connectivity between Hong Kong and Mainland cities. Notably, the AA launched in June last year the Air Network Development Programme, which has so far attracted 29 airlines to open 60 new routes and increase flight frequencies to 14 destinations, including passenger flights to Xi'an, Qingdao, Lhasa, Lanzhou, and Urumqi. The current passenger flight services between the Mainland and Hong Kong have completely covered the 10 newly added the IVS cities last year. Compared to the period before the expansion of the IVS, the total number of flights to and from these cities has increased by 80 per cent.
Regarding the promotion of trade collaboration, the CSTB provided funding support to the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to organise trade visits to Harbin and Taiyuan in February and June 2025 respectively and will visit Xi'an in October 2025. Through business exchanges with the representatives from the cultural and tourism departments and trade organisations of those cities, we foster business co-operation between the tourism trade of Hong Kong and those cities, facilitating exchange of visitors and developing business opportunities.
In terms of suggestions to orderly optimise the IVS, namely the expansion of the multiple-entry IVS to other Mainland cities, the CSTB will continue to discuss with relevant ministries of the Mainland, with a view to enabling Mainland visitors to visit Hong Kong in a more convenient and flexible manner, thereby fostering the development of the tourism-related industries.
Ends/Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:50
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