Tourism revitalisation has been faster than expected, with overall tourist figures possibly reaching 1.6 million this month.

Speaking on a radio talk show this morning, Commissioner for Tourism Eva Cheng said over 800,000 tourists visited Hong Kong during the first two weeks of the month.

Although she did not estimate how many Mainland tourists will visit during the upcoming National Day holidays, she expects the number to be higher than last year.

To handle the upsurge, the Government has taken a number of measures, such as increasing cross-boundary services, enhancing Immigration Department manpower deployment at checkpoints and stepping up communication with Mainland authorities.

Ms Cheng said the Government will also step up publicity on the Mainland to inform visitors of the expected waiting time at all cross-boundary checkpoints.

The Government will work closely with the trade to divert tourists to checkpoints with higher passenger-handling capacity.

On improving the quality of the tourism trade, Ms Cheng said the Government will extend the scale of the existing quality service scheme and continue exploring new historic and ecological tourism spots.