Hong Kong: Nearly 1.41 million mainland visitors to Hong Kong during the National Day Golden Week, the second-highest on record.

The seven-day National Day Golden Week has come to a successful close. As of 9 p.m. on October 7, nearly 1.41 million mainland visitors had visited Hong Kong during the Golden Week, exceeding the Hong Kong government's expectations and even surpassing the 1.4 million recorded during last year's eight-day National Day Golden Week holiday. The Hong Kong government had earlier estimated that 1.29 million mainland visitors would visit Hong Kong during this year's National Day Golden Week. However, according to statistics as of 9 p.m. tonight, nearly 1.41 million mainland tourists had entered Hong Kong through various ports during the Golden Week, 120,000 more than expected. Last year's National Day Golden Week had eight days of holiday, during which about 1.4 million mainland visitors came to Hong Kong. Although this year has one fewer day of holiday, the number of mainland visitors has already matched the level of the eight-day holiday, setting a second-highest record in history, second only to the record high of about 1.38 million in 2017. Hong Kong Legislative Council member Yiu Pak-leung analyzed that the visitor volume during the Golden Week met expectations, and mainland visitors are still attracted by traditional tourist spots, with most staying in hotels in the Yau Tsim Mong district. He pointed out that creating consumption requires "scenarios" when tourists want to drink water, there needs to be water for sale. He suggested that the industry could consider launching more cultural tourism products to convert foot traffic into spending, such as merchandise related to the Man Mo Temple. In response to mainland authorities explicitly allowing dried seafood to be brought across the border in "reasonable quantities for personal use," dried seafood has also become one of the "souvenirs" for tourists. Poon Kuen-fai, Managing Director of On Kee Sea Food Company Limited, said that products such as snack abalone and snack sea cucumber are popular among mainland visitors, and some Shenzhen customers, trusting Hong Kong's food safety and quality, even buy groceries and candied dates while visiting Hong Kong. He noted that wholesale prices for ginseng and dried seafood have dropped significantly recently, leaving room for retail price reductions, which also attracts customers, and he expects Golden Week business to rise by 20 to 30 percent. Poon revealed that, taking cordyceps sinensis as an example, prices have recently dropped from HK$8,000 per tael to the HK$5,000 to HK$6,000 level; sea cucumber has also dropped from HK$7,000 per catty to as low as HK$3,000, "many have become 30 to 40 percent cheaper." He also described this year's Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day as having "gotten off to a good start," and believes the trend can reverse last year's "lowest trough," with the sales effect lasting until the Wine and Dine Festival at the end of the month.