Hong Kong Golden Week Kicks Off With Hotels Nearly Full, Room Rates Up Nearly 10%

Why it matters

The seven-day National Day Golden Week that began October 1 is Hong Kong's biggest mainland-visitor season of the year. Early figures suggest hotels and restaurants are already close to full — a direct boost for local consumption, and a travel note for anyone heading across the border.

The Immigration Department estimates about 1.29 million mainland visitors will arrive during the holiday, with average daily arrivals up more than 5% from last year — both figures are official projections, not final counts.

Tommy Tam, chairman of a Hong Kong tourism trade body, told RTHK radio that hotels in traditional hotspots — Tsim Sha Tsui, Causeway Bay and Central — are over 90% occupied, with room rates up nearly 10% year over year. A Trip.com check found October 1–3 prices in Causeway Bay up 36% to more than 230% versus September 29–30: the Rosedale Hotel, for example, rose from HK$828 to HK$1,367.

Between 100 and 200 mainland tour groups were expected to arrive on the first day. The catering industry expects total revenue of HK$3 billion from the Mid-Autumn Festival through the end of Golden Week — about HK$250 million a day. Cross-border buses are running every 5–10 minutes, and the Shenzhen Bay port expects more than 30,000 arrivals.

Context: the Mid-Autumn long weekend of September 25–27 already brought 439,532 mainland visits to Hong Kong.

Sources: HK Businesswire (Oct 1); RTHK; South China Morning Post.