Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki convened an inter-agency meeting on 23 September to finalise National Day Golden Week preparations. Immigration, police, transport and tourism officials forecast 1.29 million arrivals from mainland China between 1 and 7 October—5 percent more than last year—and have cancelled leave for frontline staff at all 14 land, sea and air control points. Measures include adding 100 e-gates at the West Kowloon high-speed-rail terminus, extending operating hours on the Tuen Ma and East Rail MTR lines, and reopening the Kai Tak cruise terminal’s park-and-ride lot to tour buses. Police will deploy uniformed teams to Sai Kung’s popular beaches and hiking trails, where visitor numbers are expected to spike if weather permits. The government is also working with the Travel Industry Authority to monitor forced-shopping complaints—an issue that led to several agency licence revocations earlier this year. Retailers in Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay have been briefed on crowd-flow guidelines and multilingual price displays to improve visitor experience. For companies flying staff into Hong Kong for meetings or onward connections, the key operational point is capacity at boundary checkpoints. Mobility managers should advise travellers to use the relatively quieter Shenzhen Bay Bridge or the China Ferry Terminal if itineraries allow, and to pre-fill the electronic arrival card to skip manual counters. The heightened staffing model offers a preview of Hong Kong’s longer-term goal: reclaiming its role as the southern gateway for mainland business travel. The Airport Authority says it will reach 80 percent of 2019 passenger numbers by year-end, aided by the expected Golden Week bump.
