The Individual Visit Scheme will be further extended to three more mainland provinces from July 1, Secretary for Economic Development & Manpower of Hong Kong Special Administrative (SAR) government Stephen Ip said in Hong Kong Tuesday.

They are Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Fujian provinces. The scheme will be effective in nine cities of these three provinces from July 1, which include Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Taizhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen and Quanzhou.

The SAR government expects 43 million tourists from the cities will be eligible to visit Hong Kong through the scheme.

Ip said he is confident Hong Kong can cope with the visitor surge as there is effective co-ordination among government departments and good liaison with mainland authorities, along with adequate accommodation.

Although it is difficult to estimate the number of mainlanders visiting during the coming Labor Day golden week, Ip said he expects the number to exceed that of National Day golden week when about 380,000 came.

The SAR government hopes that the scheme will be further extended to more mainland cities in a progressive and orderly manner. It will review the situation to ensure Hong Kong has sufficient facilities to handle the upsurge.

Meanwhile, the scheme will also be effective in seven more cities in south China's Guangdong province from May 1. From July, 150 million mainland tourists from 32 mainland cities will be eligible to visit Hong Kong through the scheme.