Record number of visitors travel to territory
Hong Kong received a record 28,169,293 visitors in 2007, up 11.6% compared to 2006, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB).
All long- and short-haul market regions showed positive gains in 2007. Arrivals from mainland China passed 15 million for the first time reaching 15,485,789, or 13.9% more compared to 2006 and accounting for 55% of total visitor arrivals in 2007. Non-Mainland arrivals also registered a notable gain of 8.8% at 12,683,504 visitors.
Among the long-haul market regions, Europe, Africa and the Middle East led the field, with arrivals growing by 14.2% to 2,189,424, followed by The Americas and Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. In the short-haul markets, South and Southeast Asia enjoyed a solid 8.6% gain to become Hong Kong’s second-largest source market region, bolstered by promotions targeting the young and family segments jointly launched by HKTB and the travel trade during the year.
The Americas recorded 1,783,609 arrivals in 2007, 9.4% more than in 2006. The United States provided the bulk of arrivals at 1,230,927, a 6.2% year-on-year increase.
In 2007, the average occupancy rate across all categories of hotels reached 86%. This is one percentage point lower compared to the previous year, in spite of the 9.3% increase in Hong Kong’s room supply between December 2006 and December 2007.
The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories and districts in 2007 was US$155.76, an 11.4% improvement on the 2006 figure.
Mainland arrivals surge during holiday
Visitor arrivals from mainland China during the Lunar New Year holiday (February 6-17) surged 13.5% to reach 729,614, despite severe snowstorms that impacted the travel plans of Mainland visitors, especially those from non-Guangdong regions. This brings total arrivals from all markets during this period to 1,072,648, or a 10.2% growth compared to last year’s Lunar New Year holiday.
Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board James Tien said that the board was strongly encouraged by the higher-than-expected growth of Mainland arrivals in the face of the adverse weather conditions, which reaffirmed Hong Kong’s draw as a destination to enjoy the “Golden Week” holiday.
“The increase in arrivals could be attributed to visits by Mainland visitors, especially those traveling under the Individual Visit Scheme, during the latter part of the holiday as the weather conditions improved,” he said. “Also, some Mainland visitors switched their travel destination from Mainland cities to Hong Kong due to the poor weather in some provinces.
“While we have to wait another eight months before the next Golden Week in October, we do see new windows of promoting travel to Hong Kong under the Mainland’s new holiday arrangements,” Mr. Tien explained. “As far as Guangdong province is concerned, one of our promotional focuses will be weekend family travel. As for farther and non-Guangdong regions, such as Beijing and Shanghai, we’ll promote Hong Kong as the ideal short-break destination, and encourage Mainland visitors to come to Hong Kong during the combined festive holidays and weekends.”
Under the new holiday arrangements, the Labour Day Golden Week holidays will be reduced to one day, while three traditional festivals, namely Ching Ming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-autumn Festival, will be designated statutory holidays, resulting in a number of extended weekends during the year.
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