How Hongkongers can use public holidays strategically for longer breaks in 2025

An ideal scenario would be an employee using leave to bridge next year’s Christmas holiday on December 25 and 26, which fall on a Thursday and Friday, with the New Year’s break on January 1, a Thursday.

In this situation, the employee would only need to take leave from December 29 to 31 and January 2 to net an 11-day holiday.

Those looking to make the most of the 2025 Easter break, which runs from Friday, April 18 to Monday, April 21, could take April 14 to 17 off to create a 10-day holiday.

Another option falls on the Lunar New Year holiday running from January 29 to February 2, Wednesday to Tuesday. Employees can get a nine-day break if they use two days of leave on January 27 and 28.

The announcement also reveals several extended weekends for 2025, including the Ching Ming Festival on April 4, a Friday, and Buddha’s Birthday on May 5, a Monday.

Executive director Steven Huen Kwok-chuen of EGL Tours travel agency said the long holidays would benefit the outbound tourism since Hongkongers liked travelling.

“The many potential long holidays will stimulate the desire to travel, meaning 2025 will be positive for outbound travel businesses,” Huen said.

He said Japan remained one of the most popular destinations, thanks to the low value of the yen, with the travel numbers returning to 93 to 94 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Other popular destinations include Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Travel demand to mainland China saw a threefold increase when compared with 2019.

“Destinations that require long-haul flights have not recovered as well. The recovery now stands at about 50 to 60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels,” he said, adding whether long holidays would encourage people to travel further would depend on safety and prices.

“Not everyone is familiar with geopolitics. Some may consider Europe unsafe because there’s a war on the eastern front. The flight tickets to these places are also relatively high,” he said.

Yuen Chun-ning, chief executive officer of WWPKG travel agency, said he was “cautiously optimistic” for next year’s travel trends.

“While going on holidays has become the norm again, flight tickets are still more expensive than pre-pandemic levels. Together with the weak economy, there may not be a significant increase in numbers,” he said, adding that the strong US dollar might help overseas spending power.

Yuen said travellers had become more discerning and would go for value rather than low prices.

Japan remained the most popular destination, but the devaluation of the yen prompted many hotels and tourist attractions to raise their prices, he said.

He also noted that many short-haul holiday destinations, especially Taiwan, took a hit after the border to the mainland reopened. The usual peak season for European or other long-haul travel was usually between May and September, he said, stressing next year’s potential long holidays might not help.

“However, the mid-long-haul destinations such as Australia and Dubai have seen increased demand,” he said.