Hotel occupancy rates are reaching 90 percent over the Christmas period as Hong Kong sees a surge in visitors, according to a tourism industry representative. Timothy Chui, executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, told an RTHK programme on Thursday that incoming travellers normally spend three or four nights in the SAR during the festive season. "Hotel prices over these past few days were certainly higher than usual, but the increase was not that huge, just about 10 to 15 percent," he said, adding that hotel accommodation tax has already been included in the rates. While authorities have cancelled the fireworks display as part of the New Year's Eve countdown, Chui said it had not softened demand. "Tourists are coming to Hong Kong to sample the festive atmosphere here; they think the city is very lively during the holidays. We have seen many travellers praising the Christmas markets in Central and West Kowloon," he said. "I believe the lack of fireworks display will not greatly affect the desire of tourists to come to Hong Kong." Chui also said he estimated at least one million Hongkongers have travelled elsewhere over the past few days, starting from Sunday. Immigration authorities earlier expected some 11.5 million people to cross the SAR's borders during the festive period, with the outbound travel peak being on Christmas Day. Meanwhile, crowds of travellers packed the West Kowloon high-speed rail station as residents departed Hong Kong to cities on the mainland, including a resident surnamed Hon who's visiting Foshan with his children. "As Christmas isn't a holiday on the mainland, there should be fewer people," he said. "Hong Kong is more expensive, and the mainland is more economical for a family." Another resident, surnamed Tam, who was among a group of nine travelling to Zhanjiang, said a short trip to the mainland was "great value for money".