Chief Executive John Lee on Tuesday said the number of mainland visitors during the recent Golden Week holiday showed a "good increase". Talking to reporters ahead of the Executive Council meeting, Lee said 1.22 million visitors came to Hong Kong during the holiday period. "It was up 27 percent compared with the Golden Week last year, and it was also an increase of 13 percent compared with the Golden Week in May," he said. "There were... over 1,000 mainland tourist groups visiting Hong Kong. The actual figure is 1,050. Eighty percent of these tour groups actually stayed overnight." Citing industry figures, the chief executive said restaurants saw increased turnover during the week, as they also benefited from events to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. "The catering business was doing quite well because the association indicated that there was about 2 billion dollars of business during Golden Week, which was a five percent increase," he said. "A lot of representatives of different sectors and businesses have indicated that during the Golden Week, there were larger numbers of visitors, customers, and also there was an increase in the business turnover." Lee said the National Day fireworks display attracted over 330,000 people, and about 190,000 movie-goers took advantage of half-price tickets that day, up 22 percent year-on-year. He said 60,000 people visited museums and art spaces managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department on October 1, when admission was free. He added that 4.43 million people also enjoyed free or discounted journeys that day on a number of modes of transport.
