Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung today hosted a meeting to follow up on the preparation work carried out by various government departments for the arrival of visitors to Hong Kong during the National Day Golden Week.

Mr Yeung said the Government will closely monitor the situation of visitor arrivals and strengthen co-ordination according to the actual situation, with the government departments and relevant organisations to proactively provide assistance.

With the National Day Golden Week overlapping with the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, there are major events appealing to the public and visitors to be held in various spots in Hong Kong, including the National Day Fireworks Display, Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance and the Urban Mid-Autumn Lantern Carnival.

He said the relevant departments and the trade will enhance crowd management work to ensure the quality of tourists' experience.

During Golden Week, relevant departments will strengthen manpower and co-ordination of transport and cross-boundary services at various control points, including making arrangements for crowd management, increasing coach parking provision and transport frequency.

The Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre will be activated during that time to monitor the situation at each land control point as well as to maintain close liaison with Mainland counterparts and take contingency actions where necessary.

District Offices will closely monitor the flow of visitors within their corresponding districts and strengthen management of the relevant spots, having regard to the actual circumstances. Major tourist attractions will also put in place crowd control measures during Golden Week. 

The Travel Industry Authority (TIA) will deploy additional manpower during that time to conduct inspections in districts where relatively more registered shops for inbound tour groups are located, offer assistance to visitors and tourist guides, and step up enforcement. Customs will step up inspection of shops serving visitors to combat unfair trade practices such as coerced shopping.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Commission has been maintaining liaison with the Mainland tourism authorities concerning the arrival of Mainland visitors and has provided the hotlines of the relevant local organisations to Mainland inbound group visitors via the Mainland tourism authorities.

The Immigration Department will upload the daily arrival figures of each control point to its website. Visitors may check the estimated waiting time at each land boundary control point via the Immigration mobile application.

During the National Day Golden Week, in case of any emergency, Mainland inbound tour group visitors, tour group escorts and local tourist guides may seek assistance from the TIA by calling 3698 5900 from 9am to 9pm. For enquiries or complaints, visitors may call the Tourism Board on 2508 1234, also from 9am to 9pm or the Consumer Council on 2929 2222 from 9am to 5.30pm.