Hong Kong continues to be a big draw for mainlanders, with 162,100 more travelers crossing the border within the November-December period in 2007 than in the previous year. That is a rise of 1.8 percent compared with the same period in 2006, a survey found.

Visitors from the mainland comprised about 16 percent of all cross- border trips last year, or about 76,800 trips a day, according to the Planning Department's Cross-boundary Travel survey.

The 16 percent was part of the total 6.9 million trips recorded during the time frame last year, or an average of 490,000 trips daily. Leisure traffic accounted for more than half the trips.

With a shorter-than-usual Golden Week later this month, Hong Thai Travel deputy general manager Daniel Chan Kin-pang predicts less mainlanders will visit Hong Kong. But Hong Kong people are using more vacation opportunities to visit the mainland, with leisure trips making up half of all cross-border trips.

Business trips made up a little over one-fifth, or 22 percent.

Shenzhen was the main final destination for most Hong Kong travelers, with close to 67.7 percent, or 3.3 million trips, from Hong Kong.