The HKSAR maintains a liberal visa policy for visitors. People from about 170 countries and territories may come to the HKSAR visa-free for visits ranging from seven days to six months. Passenger traffic grew considerably in 2002, with 162 million people moving in and out of the HKSAR, up 8 per cent from the 150 million in 2001. The growth was mainly attributable to heavy cross-boundary traffic over land between the HKSAR and the Mainland. In all, 117.6 million land passengers and 12.4 million vehicular movements were recorded for 2002, an increase of 10.3 per cent and 9.7 per cent over the figures of 2001—106.6 million and 11.3 million, respectively.

    The number of visitors travelling to the HKSAR also rose from 13.73 million in 2001 to 16.57 million in 2002, up 20.7 per cent. These included 6.83 million from the Mainland and 2.42 million from Taiwan.