The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government welcomes the Central Government's decision to replace multiple-entry individual visit endorsements for permanent Shenzhen residents with a one-trip-per-week cap.
With growing numbers of Mainland residents visiting Hong Kong in recent years, Hong Kong has encountered problems with receiving capacity and parallel trading activities.
The SAR Government is thankful for the Central Government's understanding and support by adjusting the policy upon the SAR Government's request. It is also grateful for the Guangdong Provincial and Shenzhen Municipal governments' consideration towards the current situation in Hong Kong.
Based on 2014 visitor arrival figures, assuming the mode of visitors coming to Hong Kong remains unchanged, the one-trip-per-week cap on individual visit endorsements could reduce the number of visitor arrivals under the current multiple-entry endorsements by about 30%, to about 4.6 million, equal to about 10% of Mainland visitor arrivals in 2014.
The SAR Government believes the new measure can curb parallel trading activities by those who now come to Hong Kong multiple times a week or a day. It will also lessen the impact of the substantial increase in visitor arrivals on affected districts in Hong Kong.
The next important priority is to seize the opportunity to re-establish Hong Kong's positive image as a hospitable city to ensure the sustainable and orderly development of Hong Kong's tourism industry, a SAR Government statement said. It added the city would continue to welcome visitors from all over the world including those from the Mainland, and it will strive to attract more overnight visitors who generally spend more in Hong Kong.
