29.5 million people visited Hong Kong in 2008
In 2008, Hong Kong welcomed a total of 29,506,616 visitors, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. This is a 4.7% increase on the 28.17 million arrivals recorded in 2007.
Leading the growth among various market regions was mainland China, with arrivals reaching 16,862,003, or 8.9% year-on-year increase, accounting for 57.1% of the 2008 total. Of these, 9,619,280 arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), or 57.0% of the total and 11.9% more than in 2007.
Non-Mainland arrivals registered a slight drop of 0.3% to 12,644,613, with the decrease more prominent in the long-haul regions. Below summarizes arrivals from different market regions in 2008:
Market Regions |
2008
Visitor Arrivals |
Growth
over 2007 |
| Mainland China |
16,862,003 |
+8.9% |
| South and Southeast Asia |
2,936,207 |
+1.7% |
| North Asia |
2,229,117 |
+1.3% |
Australia, New Zealand
and South Pacific |
763,206 |
+0.8% |
| Taiwan |
2,240,481 |
+0.1% |
| Europe, Africa and the Middle East |
2,094,039 |
-4.4% |
| The Americas |
1,684,734 |
-5.5% |
Of the 29,506,616 visitors who came to the city in 2008, almost 17.32 million (58.7%) stayed overnight, 2.2 percentage points fewer than the 60.9% who did so in 2007. The remaining 12.19 million were classified as “same-day in-town” visitors, departing for another destination on the same day as arrival.
Taiwan continued to have the highest percentage of same-day in-town visitors at 71%, as many visitors traveled en-route to the Mainland or other destinations. Most long-haul visitors stayed for at least one night in 2008. The 55.6% of visitors from the Mainland who stayed overnight represent a 3.1-percentage-point fall compared to 2007, as it has become an established trend for many Mainland visitors, especially those from southern China, to make short, consumption visits to Hong Kong via the IVS. Below summarizes the percentage of overnight arrivals from different market regions in 2008:
Market Regions |
2008 Overnight Visitor Arrivals |
2007 Overnight Visitor Arrivals |
| The Americas |
73.1% |
74.6% |
| Europe, Africa and the Middle East |
73.7% |
72.9% |
| Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific |
78.6% |
79.2% |
| North Asia |
65.3% |
65.4% |
South and
Southeast Asia |
75.1% |
74.8% |
| Mainland China |
55.6% |
58.7% |
| Taiwan |
29.0% |
31.0% |
Hotel occupancy averaged 90% in December 2008, compared with 93% in December 2007. For the full year 2008, the average occupancy rate across all categories of hotels was 85%. This is one percentage point lower than the previous year. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories and districts in 2008 was US$156.66 or a 0.6% improvement on the 2007 figure.
Cathay Pacific reduces fuel surcharge
On January 22, Cathay Pacific Airways announced a reduction in its fuel surcharges following an adjustment to surcharge levels approved by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department (CAD).
The new surcharges of US$7.8 for short-haul services in North and Southeast Asia and US$35.9 for long-haul services will apply for a two-month period from February 1 to March 31, 2009.
The adjustments represent reductions of about 44% from the current surcharges of US$13.8 for short-haul services and US$64 for long-haul services.
A Cathay Pacific spokesman said: “The airline’s fuel surcharges continue to be significantly lower than those of other international airlines on comparable routes outside Hong Kong. As CAD has pointed out, it remains an international practice for airlines to levy passenger fuel surcharges despite the drop in oil prices.”
Most major airlines currently levy fuel surcharges of up to more than US$80 per short-haul sector, while surcharges between US$100 and US$200 for long-haul flights are not uncommon.
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