By November 2025, the number of visitors to Hong Kong has exceeded 45 million! Year on year increase of 12%!

Hong Kong's tourism sector continues its robust recovery, with the latest figures revealing that the city welcomed approximately 45 million visitor arrivals in the first eleven months of 2025. This represents a year-on-year increase of 12%, demonstrating not only steady growth but also comfortably surpassing the total visitor arrivals for the entire year of 2024. This underscores the sustained resurgence in Hong Kong's appeal as an international tourism hub. Both mainland and non-mainland visitors contributed to this growth, with long-haul travellers particularly standing out with a 22% year-on-year increase. This surge has provided a significant boost to Hong Kong's retail, catering, and hospitality sectors.

In terms of visitor composition, mainland travellers remain the core pillar of Hong Kong's visitor base. Mainland arrivals reached 34.5 million in the first eleven months, up 11% year-on-year, accounting for 76.7% of total visitors and maintaining their dominant position in recent years. With the ongoing enhancement of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's transport network and the increasing convenience of cross-border links such as the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, ‘day trips’ and ‘weekend getaways’ have become the preferred choice for many mainland visitors. This trend has not only boosted retail consumption in Hong Kong's urban districts but also gradually revived footfall in non-core tourist areas like the outlying islands and the New Territories. A manager at a Tsim Sha Tsui department store noted that weekend visitor numbers from the mainland this year have seen a marked increase compared to the same period last year, with significant sales growth in categories such as cosmetics, jewellery, and specialty foods. This underscores the mainland visitor base's role in supporting Hong Kong's retail market.

More notably, the growth momentum among non-mainland visitors has been particularly robust, emerging as a ‘new engine’ for Hong Kong's tourism recovery. In the first eleven months, non-mainland visitors reached 10 million, marking a 16% year-on-year increase that outpaced overall growth. Long-haul visitors saw a substantial 22% year-on-year rise, with significant rebounds in arrivals from Europe, America, and Australia. This shift is intrinsically linked to the Hong Kong Tourism Board's concerted efforts in recent years to expand overseas markets. Through initiatives such as hosting tourism promotion events in major global cities, collaborating with airlines to offer discounted flight packages, and optimising immigration clearance services, Hong Kong is successfully re-capturing the attention of international travellers. Industry professionals note that long-haul travellers typically stay longer and possess greater spending power. Their growth not only boosts demand for premium hotels and distinctive dining experiences but also presents development opportunities for Hong Kong's diverse tourism offerings, including cultural, artistic, and convention sectors.

The sustained growth in visitor numbers is comprehensively revitalising Hong Kong's related industrial chains. In the retail sector, shop occupancy rates in traditional commercial districts such as Mong Kok, Causeway Bay and Central are steadily rising, with numerous brands expanding their presence in Hong Kong and launching exclusive promotional activities for tourists. Within the hotel sector, Hong Kong's average occupancy rate for the first eleven months of the year rose by approximately 10 percentage points compared to the same period last year. Weekend occupancy rates at premium hotels frequently remain high, with some peak periods even experiencing a shortage of available rooms. Regarding dining and local experience-based consumption, Hong Kong-style cafés, seafood stalls, and hiking trails on outlying islands are increasingly favoured by visitors, driving a recovery in business for local small and medium-sized enterprises. Moreover, the growth in visitor numbers has created additional employment opportunities in Hong Kong. Labour demand continues to rise across sectors including retail, hospitality, and tourism services, contributing to the stability of the local job market.

For Hong Kong, the steady recovery in visitor arrivals signifies not only the revival of the tourism industry but also a crucial manifestation of the city's economic vitality returning. As an international financial, trade and shipping centre, tourism has always been one of the key pillars of Hong Kong's economy. Its recovery can effectively stimulate consumption, boost domestic demand and provide strong support for Hong Kong's economic growth. At the same time, the influx of overseas visitors also helps Hong Kong strengthen its cultural exchanges and economic ties with the world, further consolidating its position as an international tourism hub.