HONG KONG, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- More than 10 million tourists have visited Hong Kong via the Hong Kong section of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge since the operation of the two cross-border infrastructures, according to Hong Kong Monthly Digest Statistics on Tuesday.
The data published by the Census Statistics Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) showed that around 5.27 million visitors used West Kowloon Station to travel to and from Hong Kong, with visitor arrivals reaching 1.81 million in December.
As for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, more than 4.81 million visitors made trips to Hong Kong via the bridge, with 2.21 million in single December.
From January to November last year, visitor arrivals from the mainland witnessed a 14.2 percent increase to reach 46 million compared to the same period in 2017. In 2018, visitors from the mainland spent 21,000 Hong Kong dollars per visit, 3 percent higher than 2017, said Nielsen Hong Kong, a global market research and study company.
Michael Lee, managing director of Nielsen Hong Kong, predicted that retailing and other tourism-related industry might flourish due to the growing tourists from the mainland fueled by the cross-border rail link and the bridge.