The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region recorded 4.81 million tourist arrivals in January, a 1 percent increase from a year earlier, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

The HKTB said in a statement on Sunday that the number of arrivals rose by 1 percent although January this year did not coincide with the Chinese mainland’s Spring Festival holiday period as it did in 2025.

The mainland celebrated the Spring Festival last year from Jan 28 to Feb 4. It will celebrate the holiday this year from Sunday until Feb 23.  

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The HKTB said the number of visitor arrivals from abroad surged 15 percent year-on-year to 1.17 million last month, while those from the mainland remained broadly comparable to last year at 3.64 million.

Of those coming from abroad, visitor arrivals from long-haul markets increased from 280,000 to 360,000. Arrivals from short-haul markets also rose from 590,000 to 640,000, the HKTB said.