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- Hong Kong is preparing for a major influx, with an estimated 1.43mn Mainland visitors and 2,200 inbound tour groups expected.
- Enhanced crowd, traffic, and boundary control management will be implemented across the city, including MTR overnight services.
- Major festive events will feature dedicated crowd and safety arrangements by the Police and district offices.
HKSAR's Chief Secretary for Administration, Chan Kwok-ki, has released preparatory measures from a meeting of the interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements to welcome visitors to Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year Golden Week of the Mainland (i.e. from 15-23 February).
During the nine-day festive week, the SAR is estimating a notable increase in visitor arrivals.
A summary of the preparatory work underway has been shared below for easy access to incoming visitors and locals alike.
Estimated visitor flow
1. Around 1.43mn Mainland visitors are expected to visit Hong Kong, an increase of about 6% on year-on-year daily average visitor arrivals. About 2,200 inbound tour groups are also expected, notably higher than that of last year’s Labour Day and Golden Week.
2. The Hong Kong Police Force has been tasked to ensure sufficient police manpower to implement crowd management measures and special traffic arrangements.
Co-ordinated traffic and transport facilities
1. Existing operating hours of the BCPs will be maintained during the Chinese New Year holiday. The Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Port will maintain 24-hour operations as usual.
2. Relevant departments have minimised leave for frontline officers to enable flexible deployment of manpower and operation of additional counters, temporary counters and channels, to divert passenger and vehicular flow.
3. The Transport Department (TD) has proactively approached various public transport operators to enhance their capacity and reserve sufficient vehicles and manpower to meet the travel needs of visitors during peak periods. The measures are as follows:
- MTR Corporation Limited will significantly enhance the service of the East Rail Line at different periods during 13-23 February.
- Most local railway lines will operate overnight on 16 February (Monday, Lunar New Year’s Eve).
- Services on the relevant railway lines will be strengthened after the Night Parade on 17 February (Lunar New Year’s Day) and the Fireworks Display on 18 February (the second day of Lunar New Year).
- The TD will also cater for the arrangements of BCPs, including increasing the frequency of HZMB shuttle bus (Gold Bus) to about one minute during peak hours, and Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang cross-boundary shuttle bus (Yellow Bus) to about two minutes at its highest frequency.
- Quota of cross-boundary coaches will be increased to strengthen services.
- A contingency plan will be launched for special traffic control measures, including a dedicated passage for public transport vehicles at the HZMB Port, the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port, and the Shenzhen Bay Port.
- In the early hours from 17 February (Tuesday, Lunar New Year's Day) to 19 February (Thursday, the third day of Lunar New Year), after the service hours of the East Rail Line trains to Lo Wu Station, special bus service of KMB Route No. N73 (MTR Sheung Shui Station to San Tin) will be provided to carry passengers to interchange to the Yellow Bus for their journey to the Mainland via the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port, which operates round-the-clock.
- The service of GMB Route No. 9A (Pak Tam Chung - High Island Reservoir East Dam) will be enhanced subject to passenger demand.
- The Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre of the TD will operate 24 hours a day during the Golden Week.
Additional crowd management measures have been taken at the following areas:
- For Sai Kung High Island Reservoir East Dam and campsites including Ham Tin Wan Campsite during the Chinese New Year Golden Week of the Mainland, uniformed police officers will be deployed at Pak Tam Chung, Sai Kung Man Yee Road, and East Dam, during peak visitor arrival and departure periods.
- In addition to putting up barriers and warning signs, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), will implement temporary crowd control measures at the entrance of the High Island Geo Trail - Po Pin Chau Section to prevent overcrowding.
- Management efforts will be strengthened at Ham Tin Wan, Sai Wan, and Long Ke Wan. For instance, at the campsite and public toilets in Ham Tin Wan, the AFCD and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will jointly implement special arrangements (7-8 February, and 14-23 February).
- These measures include deploying staff daily to clean the campsite and empty trash bins, assigning toilet attendants on duty, enhancing campsite patrols and public education, and installing network cameras to monitor the cleanliness of the areas around the public toilets.
Management of tour groups and protection of visitors
- Travel agents receiving Mainland inbound tour groups have been reminded to stagger arrival times as far as possible, and co-ordinate with relevant parties including attractions to adopt appropriate diversion measures.
- The TIA will also conduct inspections in districts where relatively more registered shops for inbound tour groups are located, and offer assistance to visitors and tourist guides to protect inbound tour group visitors' rights.
- Additionally, the Police will continue to step up enforcement actions against the illegal acts of taxi drivers including overcharging and refusing hire.
- The C&ED will also step up inspection of shops serving visitors to combat unfair trade practices.
- To ensure smooth traffic flow in tourist areas such as the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront and the Peak, the Police will step up enforcement actions against offenses causing traffic congestion.
Weather forecast
- As Hong Kong will still be in winter during this period, the city may occasionally experience temperature drops due to the monsoon.
- The chances of being affected by severe weather such as heavy rain or tropical cyclones are relatively low.
Information dissemination
- The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has launched a one-stop Chinese New Year festive webpage (www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/w...), which consolidates major Chinese New Year events in Hong Kong and practical information for the Chinese New Year Golden Week of the Mainland.
- Residents and visitors may also visit "Easy Boundary" (www.sb.gov.hk/eng/bwt/status.h...), a one-stop information platform on immigration clearance, and obtain useful information such as respective average waiting times for passengers and private cars at land BCPs.
The meeting, for which notes were released on 6 February (Friday), was also attended by the Secretary for Security, Tang Ping-keung; the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Rosanna Law; the Under Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Liu Chun-sun; the Under Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Diane Wong; and representatives from other relevant government departments.
Image / Hong Kong Tourism Board
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