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 (June 17):
 
Question:
 
     The Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry 2.0 sets out the vision and mission for Hong Kong's tourism industry and puts forward four positioning, including strengthening the role of Hong Kong as an international tourism hub and a core demonstration zone for multi-destination tourism. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the following information about the non-Mainland visitor arrivals to Hong Kong totalling approximately 12.06 million in 2025: (i) the number of visitor arrivals entering Hong Kong via the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) and by cruise and their nationalities, and among which, the number of passenger trips to the Mainland via Hong Kong; and (ii) the number of non-Mainland visitor arrivals entering Hong Kong from the Mainland via the HKIA or the sea, land and air control points of the Mainland and their nationalities, and among which, the number of outbound passenger trips from the Mainland via Hong Kong;
 
(2) given that China has implemented the "240-hour visa-free transit" policy (the visa-free transit policy) for 55 countries with effect from November 5, 2025, and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link have become the eligible ports for entry under the visa-free transit policy, of the respective numbers of outbound and inbound passenger trips made from and to the Mainland under the visa-free transit policy in each month since implementation of the policy and the nationalities of these passengers, and set out the relevant information in tabular form;
 
(3) to further facilitate visitors around the world to travel to and from the Mainland via Hong Kong, whether the Government has striven for the Mainland authorities' inclusion of land boundary control points, such as the Shenzhen Bay Port, Huanggang Port and Luohu Port, as eligible ports under the visa-free transit policy; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(4) given the optimised implementation of the 144-hour visa-exemption policy for foreign group tours entering Guangdong from Hong Kong under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement since March 2025, whether the authorities have continuously explored ways to extend such facilitation arrangements to cities outside the Guangdong Province and studied the extension of the period allowed to stay to 240 hours to align with the visa-free transit policy; if so, of the details, if not, the reasons for that;
 
(5) there are views that given the absence of any convenient mechanism in the Mainland for purchasing group tickets of the Express Rail Link (XRL) at present, it is difficult for overseas travel agencies to plan the XRL trips and develop multi-destination tourism products, whether the authorities have proactively discussed with the National Railway Administration the establishment of a direct booking channel for the XRL group tickets for Hong Kong travel agencies to streamline the ticketing process; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(6) whether the authorities have any plans to encourage the industry to "go global and bring in" by entering new source markets to engage with local governments and industry counterparts, and establishing government-to-government and industry-to-industry ties, with a view to jointly developing multi-destination tourism products; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(7) to promote multi-destination tourism, whether the authorities will strengthen co-operation with three core and prominent hubs, i.e. Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, to implement the multiple-entry visa arrangement; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Hong Kong's tourism industry has been developing steadily in recent years. In 2025, visitor arrivals reached approximately 50 million, representing an encouraging year-on-year increase of 12 per cent. Moving into 2026, the tourism industry's growth momentum has remained strong, with around 23 million visitor arrivals recorded in the first five months of the year, an increase of 14 per cent compared to the same period last year. We anticipate full-year visitor arrivals to reach 53.8 million, marking an 8 per cent year-on-year increase. Among the total overseas visitors to Hong Kong in 2025, around 20 per cent travelled onwards to Chinese Mainland via Hong Kong, underscoring Hong Kong's continuous role in "bringing in" overseas visitors.
      
     In consultation with the Transport and Logistics Bureau, the Security Bureau and the Immigration Department (ImmD), the consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Yiu Pak-leung is as follows:
      
     According to the information provided by the ImmD and the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), in 2025, the number of non-Mainland visitor arrivals entering Hong Kong via Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) or by cruise exceeded 7.3 million. These visitors originated from Taiwan, the Philippines, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Australia, Singapore, India and the United Kingdom. In the same year, the number of non-Mainland visitor arrivals entering Hong Kong from Chinese Mainland via the HKIA, by sea, or by land exceeded 2.2 million. These visitors originated from Taiwan, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, and the United Kingdom. Since the "240-hour visa-free transit" policy is implemented by Chinese Mainland authorities at border control points under the jurisdiction of Chinese Mainland, the ImmD does not maintain information on the number of visitors departing from and entering Chinese Mainland under this policy.
      
     In recent years, the Central Government has successively introduced multiple supportive measures to benefit Hong Kong, injecting great impetus into Hong Kong's tourism industry. These include enhancing the Individual Visit Scheme successively in 2024 to cover all provincial capitals in our country, resuming and expanding multiple-entry Individual Visit Scheme for Shenzhen, and implementing Hainan's 144-hour visa-free policy for foreign tour groups from Hong Kong and Macao. Furthermore, in November 2025, four ports connecting Hong Kong (including Guangzhou Pazhou Ferry Terminal, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Port, Zhongshan Port, and the West Kowloon Station of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL)) were added as entry ports under the "240-hour visa-free transit" policy, further facilitating overseas visitors to embark on multi-destination travel itineraries on Chinese Mainland via Hong Kong.
      
     To encourage the industry to "go out and bring in", the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) has been actively supporting the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) in organising trade visits to Chinese Mainland and overseas to strengthen co-operation with local governments and trade counterparts. For instance, the CSTB provided funding in February, June and October 2025, to support trade visits to Harbin, Taiyuan, and Xi'an to explore tourism resources of these cities and promote the development of multi-destination travel itineraries between Hong Kong and these cities. In April 2026, the TIC organised a trade visit to Zibo, Qingdao, and Yantai in Shandong Province. The TIC will also organise a trade visit to Wuxi in Jiangsu Province in July this year to engage in business exchanges with local cultural and tourism authorities as well as representatives of trade associations, with a view to driving business co-operation between the tourism sectors of Hong Kong and these cities and jointly exploring market opportunities.
      
     Moreover, the HKTB collaborated with the Hong Kong Airlines and the China National Tourism Office in Paris to organise familiarisation trips for the travel trade from North America and France in May 2025. Starting from June 2025, the HKTB has been collaborating with industry partners in key source markets, such as North America and Europe, to launch various tourism products and offers related to the Greater Bay Area (GBA), encouraging visitors to embark on multi-destination travel itineraries. Furthermore, the HKTB has launched multi-destination products including "Hong Kong+GBA" and "Hong Kong+Chinese Mainland" specifically for the European market, enabling visitors to experience in a single trip the tourism appeal of Hong Kong, the GBA and various provinces and municipalities on Chinese Mainland. The HKTB will also launch initiatives jointly with airlines to encourage visitors to include Hong Kong in their itineraries when visiting Chinese Mainland. The HKTB plans to conduct overseas promotion in Malaysia in August 2026 to introduce the diverse tourism resources and development in the GBA, with a view to attracting overseas visitors to embark on multi-destination travel itineraries in the GBA.
      
     The MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) has all along been committed to supporting and facilitating the Hong Kong tourism sector in developing diversified cross-boundary XRL tourism products. To facilitate the promotion of cross-boundary XRL travel, the MTRCL co-ordinates with Chinese Mainland railway operators to assist the tourism sector (including various licensed travel agents and designated ticketing agents) in reserving group tickets to and from the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station. In addition, service counters operated by China Railway (Hong Kong) Holdings Limited are set up at the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station, providing convenience to the sector and passengers in purchasing Chinese Mainland domestic tickets (i.e. tickets with both departure and arrival stations in Chinese Mainland) in Hong Kong.
      
     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will continue to utilise supportive measures introduced by the Central Government, deepen collaboration with Chinese Mainland provinces and municipalities, and maintain discussions with relevant central ministries on more entry facilitations for international visitors, 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, thereby underpinning Hong Kong's role as an international tourism hub and a core demonstration zone for multi-destination tourism.

Ends/Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Issued at HKT 12:06

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