This file photo taken on July 8, 2021 shows a view of a ferris wheel and Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in Hong Kong, south China. The city's travel business is embarking on a new course to recovery with the number of visitors surging in January, 2023 after the lifting of travel restrictions. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Hong Kong’s travel business is embarking on a new course to recovery with the number of visitors surging in January after the lifting of travel restrictions, but may need time to recover to pre-pandemic levels as the sector is struggling to find enough staff.

According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the number of visits to the city had risen threefold to around 500,000 in January. That’s a recovery of about 10 percent compared to the daily average of arrivals in 2019.

Apart from visitors with essential travel needs such as those making overnight stopovers, family visits, or business trips, the share of leisure visitors also showed an increase, the Tourism Board said. Travelers from the Chinese mainland made up the majority, accounting for around 56 percent of the total number

Apart from visitors with essential travel needs such as those making overnight stopovers, family visits, or business trips, the share of leisure visitors also showed an increase, the Tourism Board said. Travelers from the Chinese mainland made up the majority, accounting for around 56 percent of the total number.

Travel enthusiasm also showed an uptick in Hong Kong’s flagship airline Cathay Pacific’s traffic numbers. The airline said it carried a total of 1.03 million passengers in January, 40 times more than during the same period last year.

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However, a 3,000-member business delegation from the Chinese mainland visiting Hong Kong, which had planned to stay overnight in the city on Thursday, found itself able to attend only one event before needing to return to the mainland on the same day because of the lack of tour guides, coaches and drivers.

Tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu Pak-leung said Hong Kong’s tourism industry has yet to reach its full capacity to receive tourists.

He urged the government to strengthen support for the tourism sector’s recovery, including providing interest-free loans so that travel agencies have enough money to hire staff.

The manpower shortage comes at a time when the Hong Kong government has been stepping up efforts to lure international travelers back to the city after three years of COVID-19 outbreaks by launching its all-out promotional campaign “Hello Hong Kong”.

The campaign, unveiled by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Feb 2, will cost about HK$100 million ($12.74 million) in its initial phase, and features 500,000 free airplane tickets for overseas travelers, spending vouchers, a number of major trade shows and conventions, as well as sports and arts events.

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Sara Leung Fong-yuen, the Hong Kong Tourism Industry Employees General Union chairperson, said more measures should be rolled out to address the serious shortage of tour guides as many former practitioners still feel apprehensive about returning to the travel business.