The Travel Industry Council on Sunday said it estimated the SAR will see over 600,000 mainland tourists from this Saturday to next Friday with at least 80 percent being individual travelers.

Tsui said yesterday most mainlanders would spend two days here.

However, he said tourists are making bookings later than before the pandemic.

"That could be due to the limited options of available transportation. For example, the aviation sector still hasn't resumed its capacity to prepandemic levels," Tsui said.

When asked if rooms during the holiday would be too expensive, Tsui said he found prices in Hong Kong are on a par with those in Beijing and Sanya.

Ricky Tse Kam-ting, founding president of the Hong Kong Inbound Tour Operators Association, expects some 100 to 200 mainland tour groups to visit daily that week.

Tour numbers, despite gradually rising, still lag the 500 to 600 seen daily in 2019.

Tse said "the lack of manpower is the biggest challenge," with many, including guides and drivers, not returning as they fear tourist numbers will drop once the week is over.

"Previously, if we had a 30-people group tour to dine in a restaurant, we would have three to four staff. Now we only have one."

The industry is still waiting "high-consumption" southeast Asian travelers to return.

Meanwhile, the Travel Industry Authority has issued a list of restaurants willing to serve group tours, sources said.

The list includes 16 Chinese restaurants and cha chaan tengs, as well as food courts at four malls, costing travel agencies HK$40 to HK$240 for every meal per tourist.

Half of the restaurants are in To Kwa Wan and Hung Hom.