Xi'an and Qingdao open for individual travel to Hong Kong and Macao. The tourism industry in Hong Kong believes it will help increase overnight and multiple destination travelers to Hong Kong.

On February 23, the National Immigration Administration announced that starting from March 6, 2024, it will issue individual travel endorsements for eligible individuals in Xi'an and Qingdao to visit Hong Kong and Macao. The tourism industry in Hong Kong welcomes this decision. Timothy Tse, the Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Tourism Promotion Association, stated that Xi'an and Qingdao are affluent and progressive cities with many middle-class people who seek high-quality travel experiences. Hong Kong would be their choice, helping Hong Kong attract more overnight and multi-destination tourists. Tse also mentioned that he believes adding only two cities at this stage is not enough and that there should be gradual progress. He is confident that the country will further relax restrictions and add more cities for independent travel in the future. Joyce Yuen, the Secretary-General of the Hong Kong Tourism Council, pointed out that it is difficult to estimate how many additional tourists will come to Hong Kong for personal travel from Xi'an and Qingdao. However, it will definitely help increase the number of overnight tourists and hotel occupancy rates. Based on past experiences, visitors from more distant cities in mainland China tend to stay for an average of 3 nights when visiting Hong Kong. If they are multi-destination travelers, the total length of stay may increase to 5-6 nights. She mentioned that in the future, efforts will be made to have direct flights to Hong Kong and include cities along the high-speed rail line as independent travel cities. Legislator Shiu Ka-fai from Hong Kong's Wholesale and Retail sector expressed hope that the current "one-week-one-trip" policy could be relaxed to "multiple trips with one endorsement" and more mainland cities for independent travel to Hong Kong could be added. He hopes that the "Supplementary Labour Optimisation Plan" can increase the capacity of Hong Kong's retail sector, improve early closure situations of shops, and enhance service quality in the industry. Legislator Alice Mak from Hong Kong's Business and Professionals Alliance welcomed the addition of Xi'an and Qingdao as independent travel cities. She said that since these are major cities, they are expected to attract a certain number of tourists. Of course, it is important to ensure that the industry is ready to handle the influx of tourists, promote and accommodate them, and offer attractive travel packages to encourage visitors to promote Hong Kong to their friends and family in mainland China.