Hong Kong tourism chief says lifting health declaration unlikely to create dramatic surge in cross-border travel to mainland China

The number of northbound travellers from Hong Kong is unlikely to fluctuate heavily when mainland China lifts its health declaration policy, a city official has said, while vowing to upgrade a cruise terminal and tap into emerging trends to support the tourism industry.

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hong on Monday said he believed the decision to scrap a health declaration form allowing travellers to cross the border using a QR code, commonly known as a “black code”, from Wednesday would have little effect on the number of people heading north.

“I don’t think many people are deterred from going to the mainland because of the black code. They travel there based on what is attractive,” he told a radio programme.

Customs officials on the mainland implemented the policy in January 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, with the requirement covering all inbound and outbound travellers.

Last Covid-19 restriction on travel between Hong Kong and mainland China dropped

The minister’s remarks came amid local efforts to encourage more mainlanders to visit Hong Kong and concerns that an increasing number of city residents now favour crossing the border during public holidays to hunt for retail bargains.

Immigration figures showed over 459,000 Hongkongers over the weekend had travelled north using land checkpoints. The figure was more than double the number of mainland visitors who came to the city over the same period.

As part of efforts to support local industries, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu last week announced an action plan to develop the cruise tourism economy by next June in his second policy address.

Yeung on Monday said authorities would study how to expand the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal’s commercial space and whether they needed to review the functions of the site during the first half of next year.

The facility was originally developed to accommodate larger cruises that could not berth at the Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsu, the tourism chief explained.

The operator of Kai Tak Cruise Terminal in August said the site’s primary purpose was as a home port and temporary stop for boarding and disembarking passengers, and had rejected a more retail-friendly revamp.

Yeung on Monday said all 53,820 sq ft of the terminal’s commercial space had been leased out, Yeung said authorities would review whether zones such as a rooftop garden could be used for temporary weekend bazaars, as well as potentially consider how to turn the site into an exhibition venue.

“The terminal has held conferences and exhibitions in the past few years, and this is one main direction for development to maximise usage of its space,” he said.

The minister also said government intervention had smoothed over past transport issues at the terminal, when passengers earlier had to wait one hour to get a taxi.

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Yeung said authorities by next year would also revise the 2017 development blueprint for the tourism industry to catch up with post-pandemic trends.

Mainland tourists had previously flocked to Hong Kong to spend on retail goods and visit traditional hotspots, but were now turning to cultural sites and neighbourhoods that offered a glimpse of the local lifestyle, he explained.

“We want to discuss with the industry how we can include new elements or features to expand the types of tourism, such as heritage tourism, or promote our country parks, marine life and night skyline,” he said.

Yeung said more tourists were visiting local venues such as the cha chaan teng, famous Hong Kong-style cafes, which could help boost business for smaller shops and encourage people in the long run to invest or relocate to the city.