Hong Kong’s Immigration Department is preparing for one of the busiest long-weekends since the city scrapped pandemic curbs. In a notice issued late on 31 March, officials forecast some 6.44 million trips through the SAR’s seven land, sea and air control points between Thursday, 3 April and Tuesday, 7 April, coinciding with the Easter and Qingming (tomb-sweeping) holidays. Daily peaks of 712,000 departures (4 April) and 671,000 arrivals (7 April) are expected, with Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and Shenzhen Bay accounting for the lion’s share of traffic. To cope, frontline leave has been cancelled and extra counters, temporary booths and vehicle lanes will open during the surge. A joint command centre linking Immigration, Customs, Police and MTR staff will operate at Lo Wu and real-time data will be shared with Shenzhen counterparts to balance flows. Airlines have been asked to stagger flight banks and to remind transit passengers of longer connection times. Travellers will also see 12 new “Easy Travel e-Channels” in the airport arrivals hall. The lanes use facial recognition in lieu of documents or QR codes – a first for Hong Kong – and promise to clear eligible residents in under 20 seconds.
Before setting off, travellers who are unsure about entry requirements for Hong Kong or onward destinations can streamline the process through VisaHQ’s online platform. The service offers up-to-date visa and passport guidance, application processing and live support, helping individuals and corporate travel planners avoid surprises at the border; more details are available at https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/
Corporate mobility managers are being advised to brief employees on anticipated queues and to encourage use of contact-free e-Channel options where possible. The Easter-Qingming period traditionally triggers a spike in Greater Bay Area family visits and short leisure breaks, but business trips have rebounded sharply this year. Travel-management companies say multinational firms are once again routing executives through Hong Kong for meetings in Guangzhou and Shenzhen thanks to the restored high-speed rail service and simplified visa rules for mainland day trips. If the 6.44 million-passenger estimate is met, the city will reach about 92 per cent of 2019 holiday volumes – a symbolic milestone in Hong Kong’s post-pandemic recovery.
