World News by Wild Rose

Over the coming weeks, Hong Kong and Shenzhen will host two major gatherings of Asia-Pacific decision-makers. Hong Kong’s first Apec Finance Ministers’ Meeting takes place on October 20-21, with around 500 visitors expected, while Shenzhen hosts the Apec Economic Leaders’ Week next month. These Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meetings will bring international visitors to two neighbouring cities at the centre of China’s Apec year. For Hong Kong’s tourism industry, they offer a timely...

Mainland Chinese visitor arrivals in Hong Kong exceeded the government’s forecast for the entire National Day “golden week” holiday in the first six days, as major shopping centres and hotel operators reported brisk business. The city recorded 1.3 million mainland visitor arrivals over the first six days of the week-long break, up by 11.6 per cent from the same period last year and surpassing the government’s forecast of 1.29 million for the entire holiday, according to Immigration Department...

Mainland Chinese arrivals to Hong Kong surged at the start of the National Day “golden week” holiday before easing towards last year’s levels, with tourism sector representatives attributing the early rush partly to the city’s fireworks display and tourists making the most of a shorter break. Immigration Department figures showed that 277,304 mainland visitors arrived on October 1, up 19.1 per cent from 232,751 on the first day of last year’s holiday and 25.1 per cent from 221,644 in 2024. “The...

Mainland Chinese visitor arrivals in Hong Kong during the first two days of the National Day “golden week” surpassed the pre-pandemic total for the same period in 2018, as the tourism chief expressed confidence that the city would reach its annual target of 53.8 million visitors earlier than expected. The city recorded 511,311 arrivals from the mainland on Thursday and Friday, according to Immigration Department figures, edging past the 508,578 recorded during the same period in 2018. The first...

The Airport Authority will reposition the 11 Skies commercial project after taking it over next April, with the government expecting it to become a high-end tourism landmark with minimal public investment, the transport chief has said. Speaking for the first time since developer New World Development (NWD) announced on Wednesday that it would return the 11 Skies project to the authority next April, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Saturday that the two sides had reached...

Rain dampened visitor numbers at some of Hong Kong’s popular attractions on Friday morning, the second day of the National Day “golden week” holiday. Queues at the Peak Tram terminus in Central remained short, with passengers waiting less than an hour to board. Among them was Jasper Huang, a mechanical engineer in his twenties from Xiamen, Fujian province, who was visiting Hong Kong with friends for four days. “We plan to visit some famous spots like Victoria Harbour and the streets of Central,...

More than 400 hikers visited one of Hong Kong’s best-known geological attractions on Thursday morning as some tourists chose outdoor activities on the first day of the National Day “golden week”. Some visitors also arrived at Po Pin Chau – where the city’s first countryside real-name reservation system was introduced in late August to manage crowd sizes – ahead of their afternoon booking slots to try their luck. Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Mickey Lai Kin-ming said about...

Rosanna Law, Hong Kong's Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, discusses efforts to diversify the city's tourism offerings and boost visitor spending ahead of China's Golden Week holiday. She speaks with Yvonne Man and David Ingles on "Bloomberg: The China Show." (Source: Bloomberg)

Hong Kong’s crackdown on visitors abusing visas to illegally offer tour guide, photography and other services has failed to deter adverts for such unlicensed work on mainland Chinese social media ahead of the National Day “golden week” break, the South China Morning Post has found. A search of RedNote by the SCMP turned up accounts listing themselves as Shenzhen-based photographers offering their services in Hong Kong. Many of them also asked clients to reimburse their travel expenses between...

A new month-long campaign to transform Hong Kong into Asia’s premier Halloween destination will feature street parties across five neighbourhoods along with free rides on decorated buses and trams. The Tourism Board’s inaugural “Hong Kong Halloween Month” will bring street celebrations to Central, Kai Tak, Lan Kwai Fong, Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui East on three consecutive Saturdays from October 17, culminating on Halloween night. The events will run alongside promotional events at Disneyland...

Hong Kong is set to welcome 1.29 million mainland Chinese visitors over the National Day “golden week” break, fuelling questions online about what locals and tourists can do during the celebrations. On popular mainland social media platform RedNote, many users have recommended a range of activities, such as visiting the countryside, exploring the Unesco Global Geopark in Sai Kung, cycling and watching fireworks. To help tourists and locals alike, the South China Morning Post shares some of the...

Hong Kong is bracing for a surge of mainland Chinese visitors to its eco-sensitive areas during the National Day “golden week” holiday, as strong interest in countryside attractions raises questions over whether the city can absorb crowds without overwhelming popular sites. A review of discussions on Chinese social media platform RedNote on Monday by the South China Morning Post found Po Pin Chau, famed for its dramatic volcanic rock columns, among the most talked-about sightseeing spots,...

Mainland Chinese visitors made about 440,000 trips to Hong Kong over the Mid-Autumn Festival weekend, with a tourism industry representative expecting hotel occupancy of more than 90 per cent in popular districts during the coming National Day “golden week”. Hong Kong recorded 439,532 arrivals by mainland visitors from last Friday to Sunday, according to Immigration Department figures released on Monday. The total accounted for about a quarter of the 1.73 million arrivals recorded during the...