Tourist arrivals in Hong Kong jump by 13% to 26.7 million in first half of year

Hong Kong welcomed 13 per cent more visitors in the first half of the year compared with the same period in 2025, as it hosted more mega-events and the Airport Authority stepped up efforts to add destinations to boost tourism. Tourism minister Rosanna Law Shuk-pui revealed on Wednesday that visitor arrivals reached about 26.71 million in the first six months of 2026, representing an annual increase of 13 per cent. Visitors from mainland China and foreign tourists increased by 16 per cent and 5 per cent respectively, she said. “Regarding visitor spending, there is a structural shift in visitor consumption patterns, moving from a previous focus on shopping to a greater emphasis on culture and experiences,” she told the Legislative Council. Law pointed out that in recent years, per capita spending by overnight and same-day visitors was more than HK$5,000 (US$638) and HK$1,000 respectively. According to the Tourism Board, per capita spending of overnight visitors rose slightly from HK$5,490 in 2024 to HK$5,503 last year, and was forecast to increase slightly to HK$5,530 in 2026. For same-day visitors, per capita spending dropped by 7.8 per cent to HK$1,139 in 2025 against a year earlier and was expected to remain at about the same level in 2026. Although some visitors attending mega-events did not stay overnight, they still spent on transport, catering and entertainment, Law said. “The continuous rise in visitor arrivals also reflects the success of the ‘mega-events plus tourism’ strategy … In particular, since its opening last year, the Kai Tak Sports Park has achieved a critical breakthrough for ‘mega-events plus tourism’,” she said. Since opening in March last year, the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium has hosted more than 60 major sports events and concerts, attracting over 2.4 million spectators, “effectively driving surrounding consumption and employment, and injecting tangible momentum into the local economy”, she said. In response to changing visitor travel patterns, the government had adopted the “mega-events” strategy to promote high-quality tourism development, she noted. “Mega-events are upgraded from stand-alone items into cross-period, cross-district themed experiences, with a view to extending visitors’ stay in Hong Kong and broadening consumption scenarios so that catering, retail, hotels and transport can all benefit,” she said. Law pointed to the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament, which attracted more than 113,000 spectators over three days in April, with over 30 per cent being non-local visitors. Art March linked up multiple cultural events spanning the entire month, with Art Basel Hong Kong and Art Central jointly admitting about 55,000 visitors, she added. Meanwhile, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan told Legco that the government continued to work with the Airport Authority to attract airlines to add new destinations and increase flight frequencies. Under a financial incentive programme launched in June 2024, 40 airlines had launched 89 new routes covering Asia, Europe, North America and Africa, with flight frequencies increasing on 14 existing routes, she noted. From 2025, Hong Kong International Airport has added 43 destinations to its network, taking from a the total to of 223. From 2025, Hong Kong International Airport has added 43 destinations to its network, taking the total to 266. The new destinations included cities on the mainland, in Pakistan, Japan, Indonesia, India, Laos, Greece, Latvia, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Norway, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Italy, Germany, Australia and Romania. The new destinations are served by 96 weekly scheduled passenger and cargo flights, as well as non-scheduled passenger and cargo flights or charter services. “Among these efforts, Etihad Airways resumed its Hong Kong-Abu Dhabi service in November 2025. Additionally, Delta Air Lines recently resumed its direct flight services to Los Angeles after an eight-year hiatus,” Chan said.