Hong Kong saw a surge of mainland visitors during the New Year's holiday in a boost for the hospitality sector, the South China Morning Post reported, citing data from the Immigration Department.

During the New Year countdown and the subsequent three-day holiday, the city welcomed 659,090 mainland visitors, accounting for 79% of the total 836,544 tourist arrivals during the period.

The figure represented a 72% year-on-year increase from last year, when the city only had a single holiday for New Year's Day. This year, the break was extended to three days and ended on Saturday, the report said.

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