Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong exceeded four million for the first time in August, setting a new monthly record for the city. The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced that arrivals in August reached 4.07 million, a year-on-year growth of 17.7%. In the first eight months of 2011, arrivals amounted to 27.24 million – a 16.2% increase compared to the same period last year.
Commenting on the new single-month record, HKTB Chairman, James Tien said; “We are encouraged by the tourism performance in August. Summer has always been a peak season for travel among short-haul visitors. Following a historic high of 3.8 million arrivals in July, this is the second month in a row that arrivals set a new monthly record.
“Overall, during the summer period from June to August, we welcomed a total of 10,940,371 arrivals, 18.8% more than the corresponding period last year. Both mainland China and Southeast Asia achieved outstanding performance, mainly because of the favourable economic climate and appreciation of currencies in these markets. In addition, the local travel trade also proactively launched timely promotions to make the best of the business opportunities arising from the peak travel season.
“Looking into the remaining months of this year, we expect Mainland China and the short-haul markets will continue to be the growth engine of our tourism. We project that Mainland arrivals will go up by around 8% to 10% during the National Day Golden Week. The HKTB has already planned for a series of promotions, which will be rolled out in the coming months to keep up the growth momentum.”
In August, visitor arrivals from mainland China grew by 23% year-on-year to exceed 2.91 million, making it the highest-ever mainland arrival figure for a single month. More than 1.51 million, or 51.9% of all mainland arrivals were overnight visitors – 17.7% more than last year. Those who travelled under the Individual Visit Scheme reached 1.95 million, a 22.9% increase year-on-year and 67% of all mainland arrivals in the month.
Southeast Asian market also saw increase travel. In August, arrivals from the region surged by 25.2% to around 250,000. Double-digit growth was recorded for such markets as Malaysia (+28.6%), the Philippines (+10.8%) and Thailand (+10.6%), while Indonesian arrivals saw a jump of 120%.
In North Asia, South Korea sustained the upward trend in August, causing arrivals to increase by 16.4% to 104,831. As for Japan, arrivals rose by 1.6% – the first month positive growth was recorded for the market since the 311 earthquake in March 2011, an indication that consumers’ propensity for outbound travel is recovering. In Taiwan, cross-strait direct flights caused overall arrivals to fall by 3.7% in August.
There was milder growth in arrivals from long-haul markets. In August, arrivals from The Americas and Europe, Africa and the Middle East measured an increase of 2.7% and 2.8% respectively, while those from Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific remained static.
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