After three years of not travelling during coronavirus, 25-year-old Hongkonger Mena Liu missed the feeling of stepping onto an aeroplane the most.
The software developer is in South Korea for 11 days from April 1 to 11 exploring Busan and Jeju Island during the Easter holidays, the longest break since all travel restrictions in Hong Kong were lifted.
Liu had yearned to travel since the city’s borders reopened and the government started gradually loosening strict Covid-19 rules, which included shortening quarantine periods and removing compulsory tests.
“I’ve wanted to travel since last year, but since I changed jobs recently, there weren’t any leave days for me to take,” she said. “I broadened my horizons in South Korea and felt excited and happy … I haven’t been on a plane in a long time, so I missed it.”
Liu is among tens of thousands of Hong Kong travellers eager to leave the city over the tomb-sweeping Ching Ming Festival and Easter period.
The traditional Chinese festival falls on Wednesday, while Easter is from April 7 to 10. This means an office worker taking one day off will get a six-day holiday.
Families are taking advantage of the long holiday to travel again. Photo: Shutterstock
The most sought-after destinations for Hong Kong travellers during the spring holidays include Tokyo, Taipei, Osaka, Bangkok and Seoul, according to Expedia for Business president Ariane Gorin.
“It is worth noting that visiting Tokyo this spring is attracting high interest from Hong Kong travellers, at the same level as pre-pandemic,” she said.
She added that the average length of stays for these top five destinations increased by 20 per cent compared to the same period in 2019, while mobile searches also grew by 40 per cent.
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Steve Huen Kwok-chuen, executive director of travel agency EGL Tours, said trips over the Easter period were sold out two weeks ago.
“Parents were still more conservative in bringing their children to travel during the Christmas and Lunar New Year holidays. But, we are seeing more children joining the tours with their families over Easter,” he said.
Huen added that travel demand over the Easter period was now half of the pre-pandemic level, saying he hoped it would reach 70 per cent by the summer holidays.
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He said Japan was still the favourite destination for Hong Kong travellers, but mainland Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Beijing were becoming more popular and made up a quarter of their total outbound tours.
Since Hong Kong’s high-speed rail services to the mainland resumed, the Hunan province and the Chaoshan region in Guangdong province also gained travellers’ interest, he said.
Japan is a favourite destination for Hong Kong travellers. Photo: Shutterstock
Yuen Chun-ning, executive director of WWPKG, estimated his company would have about 120 tours over the Easter period, nearly twice as many as in usual months.
Like EGL’s Huen, his agency also saw more children join their tours and expected more of them during the summer break.
“Japan made up 60 to 70 per cent of total tours, while other places of interest include South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand,” he said.
Yuen added that tours to long-haul places, including Turkey and the Mediterranean, were also popular.
South Korea is another popular holiday destination for Hongkongers. Photo: Shutterstock
But Yuen noted there were still more outbound tours during the Lunar New Year earlier in January, which reached about 200.
He explained there was more airline seat capacity specially catered to travellers during that period, but not over Easter.
The Immigration Department earlier estimated more than 9 million people would pass through Hong Kong’s border control points from April 1 to 10.
It also predicted about 83 per cent, or 7.54 million, will enter and leave Hong Kong through land boundary control points.
The total estimate of 9.03 million passengers this year marks a significant increase compared with last year’s figures. Data from the department shows only 17,220 passed through Hong Kong’s border control points in 2022, while 25,499 left the city during the same period.
During that time, Hong Kong and the mainland were battling the fifth and worst Covid-19 wave because of an Omicron outbreak.
The fifth wave of coronavirus, in which Omicron was the dominant variant, hit Hong Kong hard. Photo: AFP via Getty Images/TNS
But Timothy Chui Ting-pong, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, said there had not been a significant rise in tour groups from the mainland during the period because it was not a public holiday there.
According to the Travel Industry Authority, the city expects 304 inbound tours from the mainland from April 1 to 14.
It received 3,985 tours last month and 624 from February 6 to 28.
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