Hong Kong climbed back above 50 million visitors in 2025 — three in four arriving from the mainland, increasingly by high-speed rail — while long-haul and Southeast Asian passports grow fastest. The gap to the 2018 peak is the remaining runway.
Hong Kong's arrivals story is a mainland story: roughly three in four visitors in 2025 crossed from China — by high-speed rail, the bridge, the land crossings and the airport. The recovery is broadening, though: Southeast Asia, North America and long-haul transfer traffic all grew double-digit through HKIA in late 2025, and WTTC urges exactly this diversification toward ASEAN, India and the Middle East.
The total is climbing back: ~50.3 million arrivals in 2025, still 22.9% below the 2018 peak of 65.3 million. Business travel spend remains 16.8% under 2018 — the one segment yet to fully return, and the one the Andaz Central pipeline is aimed at.
Overnight visitors spent an average of HK$5,490 (~US$700) per person in the last full survey year, with Southeast Asian guests the top spenders (HK$7,100 over 3.4 nights) and mainland arrivals the volume engine. Same-day visitors — a uniquely Hong Kong category, walking in across the border — add millions more trips at HK$1,235 each.
The arrivals mix explains the pipeline's geography: volume flags in Kowloon East for the rail-borne mainland wave, lifestyle flags in Tsim Sha Tsui and Soho for the regional weekend traveller, luxury conversions on the harbourfront for the returning long-haul guest. The gap to 2018 is not a weakness in the story — it is the remaining runway.
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