Hong Kong Welcomes 950,000 Visitors During New Year’s Holidays, Marking 40% Increase from Last Year

About 950 000 visitors arrive in Hong Kong over New Year holidays

The interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements, led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, today (January 5) announced that the New Year's Eve and New Year holidays concluded smoothly yesterday (January 4), with around 950 000 visitors arriving in Hong Kong between December 31, 2025, and January 4, 2026, representing an increase of about 40 per cent over the same period last year. All aspects of receiving visitors to Hong Kong operated smoothly. Benefitting from the Mainland's "adjusted holiday" arrangement, Mainland inbound visitors accounted for over 740 000, representing an increase of about 48 per cent year on year. The number of non-Mainland inbound visitors was around 210 000, representing an increase of about 19 per cent.

Mr Chan said, "The New Year's Eve and New Year holidays coincided with a three-day New Year public holiday on the Mainland (January 1 to 3). Coupled with an array of festive activities, including the Hong Kong New Year Countdown, these events attracted visitors to experience the festive ambience in the city. The series of festive events, fully showcasing Hong Kong's multifaceted charm, were popular among local citizens and visitors and created a lively atmosphere in the community."

Photo source: online image

Visitor flow, situation at control points, and traffic and public transport arrangements

In view of the countdown activities, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and relevant departments of Guangdong Province and Shenzhen Municipality implemented two special boundary-crossing arrangements, including extending the passenger clearance service at the Lo Wu Control Point to 2am of the New Year's Day, as well as extending the passenger and passenger vehicle clearance services at the Shenzhen Bay Control Point to operating overnight, in order to facilitate the passenger flow between Hong Kong and the Mainland for citizens and visitors to enjoy the festive season. During the New Year's Eve and New Year holidays, Mainland inbound visitor arrivals peaked on January 1, with around 220 000 visitors arriving in Hong Kong. During this period, the Express Rail Link West Kowloon Control Point received the highest number of Mainland visitors, followed by the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point.

To cope with the increased passenger flow during the New Year's Eve and New Year holidays, relevant departments have deployed additional manpower and operated additional counters and channels to facilitate passenger and vehicular flows. The public may visit "Easy Boundary", a one-stop information platform on immigration clearance, to obtain information on the average waiting time for passengers and private cars at land boundary control points (BCPs), as well as for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge shuttle bus (Gold Bus) and the Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang shuttle bus (Yellow Bus) to plan their cross-boundary trips. The Security Bureau also activated the Emergency Monitoring and Support Centre during the holidays, to closely monitor and co-ordinate public order across various districts, including various BCPs. The overall operation of the control points and traffic were smooth and in order.

The Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre of the Transport Department (TD) also operated round the clock to holistically monitor traffic conditions and public transport services across the territory, including BCPs, major stations and various tourist hotspots. The TD steered local and cross-boundary public transport operators (PTOs) to enhance their carrying capacity, including increasing the frequency of bus services connecting various land-based BCPs and strengthening cross-boundary coach services, to meet passenger demand. In addition, PTOs deployed additional staff to maintain order and reserved sufficient vehicles and manpower to further enhance services when necessary. During the New Year's Eve and New Year holidays, the overall traffic conditions were generally smooth.

Photo source: reference image

Mega events and major tourist attractions

The Hong Kong Tourism Board's countdown event held on New Year's Eve at the Chater Road Pedestrian Precinct in Central attracted a lot of residents and visitors. A variety of countdown events also took place across Hong Kong, creating a vibrant festive atmosphere for both residents and visitors. Relevant special traffic arrangements and crowd control measures were implemented smoothly.

Visitors went to various major tourist attractions in Hong Kong during the New Year's Eve and New Year holidays, including Hong Kong Disneyland, Ocean Park, Ngong Ping 360, the Peak Tram, and the West Kowloon Cultural District. All major tourist spots were operating with high patronage and in good order.

During the New Year's Eve and New Year holidays, many visitors visited attractions within country parks, including the East Dam of High Island Reservoir at Sai Kung and Tai Tong Sweet Gum Woods at Tai Lam Country Park. Through concerted efforts of various departments, orders at the East Dam and Tai Tong were well maintained, and the traffic conditions were generally smooth. The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) enhanced promotional efforts on reminding visitors to use hiking trails properly and promoted hiking safety and hiking etiquette, as well as published visitor flow information of the East Dam area on the "Enjoy Hiking" website and red leaf index of the Tai Tong Sweet Gum Woods on the "Nature In Touch" website, enabling visitors to better plan their trips.

The Government has noted a significant increase in visitors to other popular countryside attractions and campsites during the holiday period. The AFCD and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) have arranged for contractors to enhance cleaning services according to the situation and closely monitored the hygiene conditions at the attractions and campsites. The FEHD will deploy additional staff during future holidays according to needs to handle cleaning duties.

To cater for the needs of passengers travelling to Sai Kung High Island Reservoir East Dam, the TD requested the operator to arrange flexible deployment of vehicles to enhance the service of Green Minibus Route No. 9A (Pak Tam Chung - The East Dam, High Island Reservoir) with regard to passenger demand in co-ordination with the Police's traffic control measures to ease passenger waiting times. The overall services were generally smooth.

The Sai Kung High Island Reservoir East Dam, Photo source: geopark.gov.hk

Inbound tour groups and hotel occupancy rates

In terms of Mainland inbound tour groups, around 630 Mainland inbound tour groups brought over 23 000 visitors to Hong Kong during the New Year's Eve and New Year holidays, with around 60 per cent engaged in overnight itineraries. The tour groups were generally in good order. The overall hotel occupancy rate reached 90 per cent in general.

Mr Chan expressed gratitude to all relevant government departments, organisations, and industry partners for their collaborative efforts in preparing to welcome visitors, providing visitors and citizens with an enjoyable holiday experience and celebrating the New Year together.

Photo source: reference image

CFS urges public not to consume certain batches of powdered infant and young children formula

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (January 6) said that, the CFS has been actively following up on Nestlé company's voluntary and precautionary recalls of certain batches of its powdered infant and young children formula in certain areas in Europe due to possible presence of Cereulide produced by Bacillus cereus in the individual raw material. The CFS has earlier conducted immediate follow-up investigation, contacted local importers (including Nestlé Hong Kong Limited (Nestlé HK)), retailers and relevant authorities. According to the latest information from Nestlé HK today, 21 batches of its powdered infant and young children formula imported into Hong Kong might have used the raw material concerned. As a precautionary measure, Nestlé HK has voluntarily stopped sales, removed from shelves the affected products and has initiated a precautionary recall.

Please refer to the Annex for product details of the 21 concerned batches of powdered infant and young children formula.

A spokesman for the CFS said, "Nestlé HK has initiated a recall of the affected batches of the products concerned. For enquiries about the recall, members of the public may call its hotline at 2599 8874."

The CFS, through its Food Incident Surveillance System, noted earlier that certain batches of Nestlé powdered infant formula were being voluntarily recalled in Europe due to possible contamination with Bacillus cereus. Upon learning of the incident, the CFS has immediately initiated follow up actions, published food incident posts to inform the public and the trade about the issue, and has been actively following up on the incident and enhanced surveillance.

Bacillus cereus is commonly found in the environment. Unhygienic conditions in food processing and storage may give rise to its growth. Cereulide is a heat-stable toxin produced in food by some strains of Bacillus cereus. Consuming food contaminated with excessive Bacillus cereus or its heat-stable toxins may cause gastrointestinal upset such as vomiting and diarrhoea.

The spokesman urged members of the public not to let infants and young children consume the affected batches of the products, and to seek medical treatment for infants or young children who felt unwell after taking the products concerned. The trade should also stop using or selling the affected batches of the products immediately.

"The CFS has alerted the trade and relevant department over the incident, and will continue to follow up and take appropriate action. Follow-up work is ongoing," the spokesman said.

Source: AI-found images