Hotels and restaurants across Hong Kong are experiencing a wave of Chinese tourists during the Golden Week holiday, with some visitors arriving even earlier than usual to maximize their vacation time.
Over a Million Mainland Chinese Visitors Expected
Hong Kong’s Immigration Department estimates that approximately 1.29 million mainland Chinese tourists will visit during the seven-day National Day holiday period.
According to The Standard, reported Saturday, October 3, 2026, Timothy Chui Ting-pong, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, said visitor numbers have already been elevated since the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday began on September 25. On September 26 alone, approximately 160,000 mainland Chinese tourists arrived in Hong Kong.
Daily arrivals also remained above 100,000 people this past Monday and Tuesday. Chui explained that the high visitor numbers stem from tourists taking advantage of two closely spaced holiday periods, the Mid-Autumn Festival and China’s National Day, to extend their overall trip length.
Hotel Occupancy Pushes Past 90%
The influx of visitors has pushed occupancy rates at small and mid-sized hotels above 90% in recent days. Several hotels were reportedly completely full during China’s National Day on October 1.
Most guests are independent travelers, with an average stay of two nights. The surge in demand has also driven room prices at budget hotels and major hotel chains up by 10% to 20%.
Chui noted that the extended holiday period allows tourists to avoid the worst crowding during the National Day peak itself, while also giving the tourism industry a more stable, spread-out flow of customers rather than one concentrated rush.
Why Hong Kong Is a Popular Short-Trip Destination
Easy border access remains one of the key reasons Chinese tourists choose Hong Kong for short getaways. New attraction promotions, the city’s blend of East-meets-West culture, Victoria Harbour’s scenery, and its shopping districts continue to serve as major draws for visitors from the mainland.
Heavy rain and flooding that disrupted several airports in Thailand also appear to have pushed some travelers to redirect their trips to Hong Kong or the broader Greater Bay Area instead. High-speed rail arrivals have also increased significantly, with West Kowloon Station at one point becoming the busiest border crossing point in the city.
Restaurant Business Gets a Major Boost Too
The restaurant industry has benefited significantly as well. Simon Wong Ka-wo, President of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said the food and beverage industry recorded close to HK$1 billion (approximately Rp 2 trillion) in revenue during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday alone.
Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong specifically saw business increase by more than 20% during this period, reflecting particularly strong demand for traditional dining experiences among visiting tourists.
Wong expressed optimism that Golden Week would continue boosting tourist spending, citing the National Day fireworks display and promotional offers from roughly 3,800 participating restaurants across the city as key drivers of continued momentum.
Daily Arrival Numbers
According to the latest figures, approximately 112,153 total arrivals were recorded in Hong Kong on Thursday, with around 74,515 of those arrivals coming specifically from mainland China, underscoring just how dominant mainland tourists have become in driving the city’s current visitor surge.
What This Means for Hong Kong’s Tourism Recovery
This Golden Week surge offers an encouraging signal for Hong Kong’s broader tourism and hospitality sector, which has faced its share of challenges in recent years. With hotel occupancy and restaurant revenue both climbing significantly, the data suggests that mainland Chinese travelers remain a critical and resilient source of demand for the city’s tourism economy, particularly when favorable conditions, like overlapping holidays or travel disruptions elsewhere in the region, align to funnel more visitors toward Hong Kong specifically.
For businesses in the hospitality sector, this period likely represents one of the strongest revenue windows of the year, reinforcing the importance of Golden Week as a key calendar event for Hong Kong’s tourism-dependent industries.
