Hong Kong, SAR of China
Hong Kong
Travellers from Hong Kong made 28.6 million outbound visits in 2024 (7.2 million excluding visits to China and Macau), with a total international tourism expenditure of US$26.4 billion.
In 2023, the UK welcomed 256,000 visits from Hong Kong. During the travellers’ visits, their total expenditure was £381.7 million, with an average spend of £1,491 per visit.
Visitor characteristics
- In 2023, 20% of visits from Hong Kong were made by British passport holders, and 63% by Hong Kong nationals; these proportions are now similar to pre-pandemic levels again.
- Just over half of holiday visitors (excluding British expats) were making a repeat trip to Britain in 2015 (within 10 years, 53%).
- Departing visitors from Hong Kong (excluding British expats) are less likely to recommend Britain than the international average, but still 76% of them are ‘extremely’ likely to.
Popular activities for this market
Dining in a restaurant.
Visiting a pub.
Going shopping.
For further information on activities and experiences for this market, please click here.
Explore the inbound data in full
Use our visualisations to see data from this market in greater depth and clarity. Compare annual statistics, and filter by age group, gender, trip duration and more. Includes seasonality, trip purpose and regional spread of visitors to UK destinations. This data is based on the International Passenger Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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Perceptions of Britain in the Hong Kong market
The top three perceptions of Britain amongst Hong Kong travellers in 2022 (MIDAS: A Global Report):
- It is a place where I can explore history and heritage
- It’s easy to get around once there
- It is a mixture of old and new
Global context
Top-level statistics relating to tourism expenditure and popular destinations for this market. For greater detail on inbound tourism flows from this market to the UK, see our data visualisations.
| Measure | 2024 |
| International tourism expenditure (US$bn) | 26.4 |
| Global rank for international tourism expenditure | 16 |
| Number of outbound overnight visits incl. visits to China and Macao (m) | 28.6 |
| Number of outbound visits excl. visits to China and Macao (m) | 7.2 |
| Most visited destination | China |
| Most visited destination (excl. visits to China and Macao) | Japan |
| Most visited destination in Europe | UK |
Caring for visitors
- The family is the most important part of life in Hong Kong; this cultural value of togetherness impacts travel behaviour.
- Visitors from Hong Kong are more likely than average to use a credit card while in Britain. Digital payment tools such as WeChat, ApplePay, AliPay are also widely used by HK Travellers.
- Some travellers may prefer modern accommodation options to traditional ones, or quintessentially British ones. Un-standardized rooms in old-fashioned accommodation could cause problems in room allocation.
- Hong Kong citizens love food and are adventurous in tasting local cuisine and produce.
The leisure and travel trade
- There are over 1,400 tour operators and travel agencies in Hong Kong, but around 20 dominate the market.
- Details of updated products and packages should be sent to the Hong Kong trade by December leaving sufficient product development.
- High English literacy in HK means that using English as the language for meetings and correspondence is normally not a problem.
Access to Britain from Hong Kong
The key routes and transport modes that connect this market with the UK.
| Measure | 2024 |
| Weekly aircraft departures | 48 |
| Weekly seat capacity | 13,760 |
| Airports with direct routes in Hong Kong | 1 |
| Airports with direct routes in Britain | 2 |
- Weekly departures on non-stop routes from Hong Kong to the UK service routes to both Manchester and London Heathrow.
- 91% of seat capacity is on direct flights from Hong Kong to London Heathrow airport.
- In 2024, direct seat capacity to the UK was 63% of pre-pandemic (2019) capacity.
To see entry requirements for visitors to the UK from Hong Kong click here.
To see rates for Air Passenger Duty charged on passengers flying to Hong Kong from the UK click here.
Further resources
How we source this information
We work with a number of data sources to provide a rich and insightful picture of our key inbound source markets. This includes, but is not limited to, data provided by Oxford Economics, the UNWTO, Apex, Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index and from our own surveys and ad-hoc research. The largest share of these data comes from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) by the ONS.
Visit our About the International Passenger Survey page for more information on how this data is collected and analysed.
