
AI-generated summary
Hong Kong's tourism sector has been recovering from pandemic-related declines, with mainland visitors being a key source of revenue. The Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays represent major travel periods for cross-border tourism.
Mainland Chinese visitors made about 440,000 trips to Hong Kong over the Mid-Autumn Festival weekend, with a tourism industry representative expecting hotel occupancy of more than 90 per cent in popular districts during the coming National Day “golden week”.
Hong Kong recorded 439,532 arrivals by mainland visitors from last Friday to Sunday, according to Immigration Department figures released on Monday. The total accounted for about a quarter of the 1.73 million arrivals recorded during the three-day period.
The seven-day National Day holiday begins on Thursday. The department said it expected about 1.29 million mainland visitors to arrive in the city during the holiday, representing a 5 per cent increase in the daily average from last year.
Combined with the mainland’s three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday from last Friday to Sunday, mainland residents who take an additional three days of leave from Monday to Wednesday can enjoy a continuous 13-day break.
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Hotel occupancy in popular Hong Kong districts will exceed 90% during the National Day golden week
Very likely · Within days

During the National Day holiday in 2026, Beijing Capital International Airport is expected to transport more than 1.66 million passengers, with an average of 237,000 passengers per day; it will support 9,448 flights, with an average of 1,350 flights per day. The peak days of passenger travel are on October 1 and October 7, with single-day passenger flow exceeding 245,000. Affected by the fact that the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays are only three working days apart, some passengers choose to travel during the holidays. From September 25 to October 7, it is expected to transport more than 3.03 million passengers. Cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Guiyang are becoming more popular for travel, and popular international destinations are Bangkok, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bali. The airport launched the international version of the "integrated" service platform for inbound passengers and launched exclusive privileges for Beijing consumers.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday (28th), traffic was congested on the north section of National Highway 5 from Su'ao to Shiding. The average speed was less than 50 kilometers per hour, and the south entrance of the snow tunnel was blocked for 5 kilometers. The police activated ramp instrument control, implemented high-occupancy control and large truck traffic restrictions, and reminded drivers to pay attention to safety and abide by traffic rules.

Qian'an, Hebei Province, integrates the Great Wall culture, Yellow Emperor culture and Luanhe River ecological resources to promote the transformation from a resource-based city to a cultural tourism industry, build a tourism product system such as "main city leisure + Great Wall study + Luanhe sightseeing + rural health care + sports and fun", and shape the urban space with water as its veins, realizing the transformation from scenic spots to urban experience.

Today (28th) is the last day of the Mid-Autumn Festival and Teacher's Day holidays. The Highway Bureau predicts that there will be heavy traffic congestion on the sections connecting provincial highways and national highway interchanges, including Provincial Route 65 connecting National Highway 3 Tucheng Interchange, Provincial Route 64 connecting National Highway 3 Zhonghe Interchange, Provincial Route 74 connecting National Highway 3 Wufeng Interchange, Provincial Route 86 connecting Rende System Interchange, Provincial Route 61 Tamsui to Bali and Provincial Route 9 South Link Highway. In order to ease transportation demand, the Highway Bureau coordinated with passenger transport operators to increase flights and launched a 40% discount on national highway passenger transport. It also reminded that the Miaoli section of Provincial Highway 61 has affected road capacity due to construction, and that alternative roads have been planned and signage has been installed.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, visitors to Gangguang Village in Anji, Zhejiang, made bamboo lanterns with their own hands, and a lantern-lighting ceremony was held at Wujiangzhai Terrace Square in Zunyi, Guizhou, which integrated folk pop-ups, intangible cultural heritage performances, fish lantern parades and other activities. Travel platform data showed that searches related to "moon appreciation, folk customs, lantern festivals, and ancient gardens" increased by more than 300% month-on-month, and bookings for Chinese-style night tours and folk immersive experience products increased significantly.

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications predicts that the northbound section of the National Highway from Yilan to Pinglin will be congested in the morning during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday on September 28. From 1 to 6 p.m., high-occupancy control will be implemented at the northbound entrances of Su'ao, Luodong, Yilan and Toucheng of National Highway 5, and calls on the public not to rely too much on assisted driving systems.