Hong Kong’s hotels and tourist-area restaurants reported robust business during the Lunar New Year holiday, even as a surge in outbound travel by residents underscored the city’s increasingly visitor-driven festival economy.

An industry leader said the city had also seen more mainland tourists partly because of ongoing diplomatic tensions between China and Japan.

Hongkongers were able to enjoy a nine-day holiday this year by taking two days of annual leave on February 16 and 20 on either side of the three-day Lunar New Year holiday and including the two weekends.

Figures from the Immigration Department released on Thursday showed locals left the city in droves with a net outflow of more than 1 million trips from February 13 to 18, as Hong Kong residents made a total of 2.5 million journeys out, compared with 1 million tourist arrivals from mainland China and elsewhere.

The number of outbound trips by Hongkongers over the six days was about 11 per cent higher than the same period last year, while the number of incoming trips by visitors rose 7 per cent.

Despite the rise in visitor arrivals, the city still recorded a significant overall exodus, with the net outflow increasing by about 16 per cent year on year.