Motorists from Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing with confirmed travel bookings will be able to drive into Hong Kong’s urban areas via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge starting July 25.

This marks an expansion of the Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles program, a reciprocal initiative that facilitates mutual engagement through cross-boundary self-driving.

Motorists from these newly added cities can submit travel applications beginning July 16. Also, from July 25, the daily booking quota for Guangdong residents to drive into Hong Kong’s urban areas will be doubled to 200 vehicles, the special administrative region government announced on Monday.

The restriction that each vehicle can stay in Hong Kong for up to three days will remain in effect.

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The cross-border driving program has been implemented in phases since November. The first phase, called “Park and Fly”, allowed Guangdong drivers to enter Hong Kong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and park their cars in designated parking lots near the checkpoint, primarily aiming to facilitate travel to Hong Kong International Airport.

The second phase, “Park and Visit”, started a month later, allowing Guangdong drivers with confirmed travel bookings to drive into Hong Kong’s urban areas. Initially, the program was open to drivers from Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Jiangmen and Zhongshan.

Following the expansion, the program now applies to all nine Chinese mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The Guangdong and Hong Kong authorities also plan to gradually extend the program to include all 21 cities in Guangdong province by the first quarter of 2027.

From 9 am today, Guangdong vehicles from the four new cities can begin applying to use the “Park and Fly” service as early as June 15.

The Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles program has been growing in popularity. By the end of May, authorities had approved around 8,400 applications for entry into Hong Kong’s urban area, with 6,700 of those later booking their trips through service providers. The bookings were oversubscribed by two to three times during the Labour Day break from May 1-5.

The port carpark services received over 8,600 approved applications, with more than 4,000 bookings.

Hong Kong Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said the government will continue to advance the cross-border travel program, enabling the inflow of tourists from more mainland cities.

She said the efforts aim to help drive Hong Kong’s economic growth and promote the integrated development of Guangdong and Hong Kong to a new level.

Contact the writers at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com