Hong Kong profits from Golden Week travel rush

This year's National Day Golden Week holiday, led to notable increases in the number of visitors in Hong Kong — boosting local retail, catering and hospitality sectors, and even benefiting the city's banking business.

The Fullerton Ocean Park Hotel Hong Kong said its room bookings from Oct 1 to 8 have exceeded expectations, reflecting strong demand from both local guests and visitors from the Chinese mainland.

"Compared with the same period last year, our booking figures have shown a notable increase, indicating a robust rebound in travel sentiment and consumer confidence," the hotel's general manager Christina Cheng said.

She attributed the business improvement to the continued recovery of cross-border travel and tourism and the positive impact brought by the occurrence of mega events and the panda economy in 2024-25.

Looking ahead, the hotel remains optimistic about the upcoming peak travel periods including Christmas and Chinese New Year. "These holidays traditionally drive strong demand, and we anticipate continued growth supported by increased flight capacity and evolving travel trends such as seeking wellness, sustainability and personalized service," Cheng added.

The Hong Kong Immigration Department said that more than 232,000 mainland visitors flocked into the city on Oct 1, an increase of 5 percent.

Annie Yau Tse On-yee, chairman of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, said the tourist-propelled Hong Kong retail market has been stabilized.

"Thirty percent of the surveyed retailers in Hong Kong said their business performance on Oct 1 improved, which is driven by the influx of tourists. Among various retail segments, the jewelry, cosmetics and personal care product sector has registered positive growth," she said.

"The government effort of launching mega events has boosted significant growth in people traffic flows, though it does not necessarily translate into sales growth. We hope the government can continue to attract more overnight tourists visiting Hong Kong, and explore ways to lure more tourists from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and Middle Eastern countries," she said.

Leung Chun-wah, chairman of the Association for Hong Kong Catering Services Management, said the catering sector has recorded a satisfactory performance.

"Overall business (as of) Oct 1 is up 10 percent to 20 percent compared with a typical weekend, which is considered very satisfactory. Surveyed restaurants in tourist areas including Tsim Sha Tsui, Mongkok and Causeway Bay have seen business growth of 20 percent or more due to the fireworks display on both sides of Victoria Harbour," Leung said.

Many mainland visitors also used their trips to Hong Kong to handle asset management and explore investment opportunities. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) reported a surge of around 10 to 15 percent in new accounts opened by cross-border customers during the first two days of the Golden Week, compared with usual levels.

Yuen Yun-fat, a district manager at the bank, said that mainland clients primarily make term deposits, purchase foreign currencies, or invest in funds, while some seek insurance products and plans for family wealth inheritance. "Many are here to optimize their asset allocation, as Hong Kong offers safer, more flexible and diverse options for their portfolios," he said.

"After all, as an international financial center, Hong Kong is the primary destination for many investors aiming to manage allocations and access the overseas markets," Yuen added.

To meet the robust demand during the holiday, banks across Hong Kong, including ICBC (Asia), HSBC, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Hang Seng Bank, have extended the operating hours at some of their branches.