Mid-Autumn–National Day “Golden Week” continued to generate record traffic for Hong Kong’s control points on Sunday, with the Immigration Department reporting 616,200 passenger movements by 4 p.m. on 4 October. Of those, 337,500 were arrivals—173,000 of them mainland visitors—while 278,700 were departures, dominated by local residents heading back to the mainland or overseas after the long weekend. Land crossings again carried the bulk of flows. Lok Ma Chau Spur Line processed the highest inbound volumes, followed by Lo Wu. On the outbound side, Hong Kong International Airport and Lok Ma Chau Spur Line were the two busiest exits. Officials noted that the first three days of Golden Week had already brought 732,000 mainland visitor-trips, 8.4 per cent higher than last year, injecting much-needed spending into hotels, retailers and F&B outlets. Financial Secretary Paul Chan said in a blog post that the vibrant numbers validate government efforts—from multiple-entry “Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Residents” permits to recent relaxations in group-tour visa rules—to revitalise the visitor economy. Hotel occupancy in prime districts has hovered above 90 per cent since 1 October, and Octopus card data show double-digit jumps in public-transport ridership. Yet the surge tests capacity. Queues stretched 30–45 minutes at some land ports during the noon peak, prompting immigration officers to open additional counters and reroute elderly passengers to assistance lanes. Corporate mobility managers should advise staff to build buffer time into itineraries, especially if they plan to cross the border on 5 October, when return traffic to the mainland is expected to spike. From a policy perspective, the week offers a stress-test for Hong Kong’s expanded e-Channel network and its new passenger-flow analytics platform. Performance data collected this week will shape further automation rollouts before Christmas, officials said.
