The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) convened inter-departmental meetings on March 26 and April 16 to co-ordinate the preparation work by various bureaux and departments, including port, traffic and transport arrangements as well as advice to visitors during the 2024 Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland. All relevant bureaux and departments have reserved no effort in implementing preparation work in all aspects with a view to creating a good travel experience for visitors and demonstrating Hong Kong's unique city appeals, a Government spokesman said today (April 27).
Relevant port, traffic and transport arrangements as well as advice to visitors are set out below:
(1) Port arrangements
To meet the needs of inbound Mainland visitors as well as Hong Kong residents during the Golden Week, the port-related departments have established a series of measures to ensure smooth passenger and vehicular flows at various boundary control points (BCPs).
Based on current assessments, various ports will maintain normal opening hours. However, in view of the anticipated increase in the number of inbound visitors, relevant departments have minimised leave for frontline staff to facilitate more flexible deployment of manpower and operation of additional clearance counters and kiosks for easing passenger and vehicular flows. At the same time, additional security guards will be deployed to ports to assist in maintaining the order of boundary crossing travellers. In addition, the Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre, composed of relevant departments including the Customs and Excise Department (the Customs), the Hong Kong Police Force (the Police), and the Immigration Department (ImmD), etc. will be activated during the Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland to monitor the situation at various ports in real time and take contingency actions where necessary to ensure smooth operation. The Security Bureau will activate the Emergency Monitoring and Support Centre in a timely manner to closely monitor and co-ordinate the situation at various ports and facilitate interdepartmental follow-up actions where necessary. Relevant departments will also maintain close liaison with their Mainland counterparts to step up co-ordination and communication at various ports.
​The Customs will also continue to strengthen promotion and education work. Apart from stepping up promotion at various ports, the Customs has disseminated a series of information on Smart Guide to Passenger Clearance via various social media platforms with photos and texts to remind the public of the items that are prohibited and controlled into and out of Hong Kong and the relevant laws in order to assist the public in avoiding the violation of laws. In addition, the Customs has also developed the Smart Customs Interactive Response System and introduced the Virtual Customs Ambassador XiaoHui, which can handle general enquiries raised by the public in real time in relation to the Customs' work and provide information on ports through combining technologies on artificial intelligence, natural language processing, machine learning, etc, to enable visitors to access to information related to the Customs and import and export controls.
(2) Traffic and transport arrangements
To address the transport demand of cross-boundary travellers during the Golden Week and facilitate them to plan their itineraries ahead, the Transport Department (TD) has liaised with the relevant Mainland authorities and Hong Kong public transport operators with a view to making preparations to enhance public transport services and implement traffic measures at various BCPs/ports as and when necessary during the Golden Week. In respect of public transport services, the TD has issued 40 per cent more additional ad-hoc quotas than those of normal days, in order to enable cross-boundary coach (CBC) operators to increase service frequency during the Golden Week. The frequency of Lok Ma Chau – Huanggang cross-boundary shuttle bus (Yellow Bus), Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) shuttle bus (Gold Bus) and relevant franchised bus services will also be enhanced. In addition, the MTR will also strengthen services during the Golden Week to facilitate the travelling of passengers. As for the traffic arrangement for ports, the TD has coordinated with the Police and the Highways Department such that the Police will make appropriate traffic arrangements at Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port and Shenzhen Bay Port when necessary to separate various types of vehicles heading for the ports so as to provide a dedicated passage for public transport vehicles. The TD will also closely monitor the traffic condition of the HZMB Hong Kong Port and nearby roads, and maintain close liaison with relevant Mainland departments so as to adopt corresponding traffic measures as and when necessary.
In addition, the TD also reminded members of the public and visitors that there will be large-scale events at the Central Harbourfront Event Space during and around the Golden Week (i.e. April 30, May 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8). To facilitate dispersal of crowds leaving the venue, the following special transport arrangements will be implemented:
1. for rail service, to facilitate the dispersal of members of the public and visitors travelling to the Mainland after the events, the last train of the MTR East Rail Line heading for Lo Wu will depart from Admiralty Station at 11.32pm on the above dates. Arrangements will also be made at the Lo Wu Control Point to handle the passenger clearance service accordingly;
2. for franchised bus service, after the end of events, franchised bus companies will operate the following six special bus routes near the event venue:
| Route No. | Destination | Boarding Point |
| To BCPs | ||
| 1) CTB Route No. 976R* | Lok Ma Chau (San Tin) Public Transport Interchange (PTI) |
|
| 2) CTB Route No. A11R* | Airport (via HZMB Hong Kong Port) | |
| To other districts | ||
| 3) CTB Route No. 18R | Heng Fa Chuen |
|
| 4) KMB Route No. 160R | Hung Shui Kiu (via Tuen Mun) |
|
| 5) KMB Route No. 168R | Yuen Long (West) | |
| 6) KMB Route No. 178R | Luen Wo Hui, Fanling (via Sheung Shui) | |
* Cross-boundary travellers can take Route No. 976R to Lok Ma Chau (San Tin) PTI and interchange Yellow Bus to Huanggang Port; or take Route No. A11R to HZMB Hong Kong Port and interchange Gold Bus to Macao and Zhuhai.
3. for CBC service, the short-haul CBC service plying between Wan Chai and Huanggang Port will add a temporary pick-up point at Connaught Road Central (near World Wide House) on the above dates to facilitate dispersal of cross-boundary travellers. Yellow Bus will also enhance service subject to passenger demand. If cross-boundary travellers wish to take CBC, apart from purchasing tickets at the CBC terminus, they may also reserve CBC tickets through the website of relevant CBC operators or mobile applications such as WeChat and Alipay in advance.
​For details of public transport arrangements, please refer to the passenger notices issued by respective public transport operators. The TD reminded members of the public and travellers to pay attention to the details of the public transport services concerned and the special traffic arrangement during the Golden Week. They may contact the relevant public transport operators for assistance, if needed. We encourage visitors to plan their itineraries ahead, including making their journeys during non-peak hours and considering an overnight stay in Hong Kong to enjoy a more diversified travel experience in Hong Kong. The TD and public transport operators will closely monitor the passenger demand during the Golden Week and make service adjustments as and when necessary. The TD's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre will operate 24 hours to monitor the traffic conditions of different districts, especially the ports and major stations, implement response measures in due course and disseminate the latest traffic information through various channels, including radio broadcast, the TD's mobile application "HKeMobility" and the TD's website.
(3) District management arrangements
​Various District Offices will closely monitor the flow of visitors within their corresponding districts during the Golden Week and strengthen management of the relevant spots having regard to the actual circumstances. Major tourist attractions will also put in place crowd control measures. The Travel Industry Authority (TIA) has been reminding travel agents receiving relevant Mainland inbound tour groups to stagger arrival times as far as possible and urge travel agents, shops and restaurants, etc., receiving Mainland inbound tour groups to implement appropriate measures for managing the order of visitors and coaches. The TIA will also deploy additional manpower during the Golden Week to conduct inspection in districts where relatively more registered shops for inbound tour groups are located, and offer assistance to visitors and tourist guides.
(4) Advice to visitors
The CSTB has already provided advice to visitors, through the tourism authorities in Guangdong Province, to the travel trade in Guangdong and inbound group tour visitors. In order to further enable visitors coming from different regions of the Mainland to plan their itineraries and improve travel experience, the Government provides the following reminders:
(a) Large-scale events
A considerable number of large-scale events will be held during the Golden Week, including the marine pyrotechnic display held by the Hong Kong Tourism Board on May 1 over Victoria Harbour near Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade (near Tsim Sha Tsui East), large-scale concerts held at the Central Harbourfront Event Space (i.e. April 30, May 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8) and the Yau Tsim Mong Shopping Festival initiated by the Yau Tsim Mong District Office and District Council, etc. with a view to attracting more overnight visitors to stay in Hong Kong to enjoy the Golden Week long holidays. The Government reminds visitors to plan their itineraries as early as possible and closely monitor the contingency arrangements to be implemented by the event organisers due to weather conditions.
Apart from promoting shopping, dining, attractions and hotel offers, the Hong Kong Tourism Board's "Webpage for Golden Week offers and activities" launched (www.discoverhongkong.com/hk-eng/what-s-new/golden-week.html) also provides information on traffic arrangements, opening hours of major attraction, etc. to facilitate the perusal of visitors and the public.
(b) Immigration diversion
To avoid long waiting time for visitors to cross the boundary at ports, the ImmD urges all visitors travelling to and from the Mainland on land to plan their itineraries in advance, avoid crossing the boundary during busy periods and pay attention to radio and TV broadcasts on traffic conditions at BCPs. Visitors can browse the website of the ImmD (www.immd.gov.hk) to check the busy periods of various BCP.
In addition, residents and visitors can check the estimated queuing conditions for crossing the boundary at various land BCPs anytime and anywhere via the Immigration Mobile Application to plan their itineraries and reduce queuing time.
(c) Hotel accommodation
The Government reminds visitors to confirm accommodation arrangements before arriving Hong Kong. At the same time, the Government urges travel agencies organising tour groups to ensure that visitors are informed of their relevant accommodation arrangements in Hong Kong, including the type and specifications of accommodation, before arrival.
Visitors shall also pay attention to whether the guesthouses hold valid licenses. To access information about licensed hotels and guesthouses in Hong Kong, visitors can browse the website of the Home Affairs Department (www.hadla.gov.hk/en/licensing_matters/hotels/search.php).
(d) Honest and quality tourism
The Government and the travel trade in Hong Kong will continue to implement various measures to promote honest tourism and step up law enforcement to safeguard the rights and interests of Mainland visitors. The Government encourages Mainland residents to carefully select tourism products and recommends visitors to visit the WeChat official account for Mainland consumers established by the Consumer Council before departure (www.consumer.org.hk/tc/wechat).
If visitors encounter suspected unfair trade practices during their stay in Hong Kong, they should refuse to engage in any transaction and call the Customs' 24-hour hotline at +852 2545 6182 to report the incident. The Customs will dispatch the Quick Response Team to promptly handle reports involving visitors staying in Hong Kong in the short-term.
(e) Emergency contacts
​In case of emergency, Mainland inbound tour group visitors, tour escorts accompanying the tour groups and local tourist guides may seek assistance from the TIA by calling its service hotline +852 3698 5900. For enquiries or complaints, visitors may call the Hong Kong Tourism Board's hotline +852 2508 1234 or the Consumer Council's hotline +852 2929 2222.
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