Record 16 million visitors in first half of 2010

F igures released July 27 by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) show a record 16,856,016 visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in the first six months of 2010. This represented not only a year-on-year increase of 23.1%, but also the highest semi-annual figure ever recorded. Also reaching a new mark was the arrival figure for the month of June, which increased by 43.5% to 2,619,722. 

“Following the record-breaking results in previous months, visitor arrivals reached new heights again during the first six months, as well as June, this year,” said HKTB Chairman James Tien. “We saw not just significant year-on-year growth, but also a leap upward from the 2008 level in many market regions. While the base for comparison is relatively lower due to the drop in visitor arrivals resulting from the confirmation of the first human swine flu case in Hong Kong last May, the recovering global economy has helped to increase travel propensity and sustain the growth momentum of visitor arrivals this year.

“We expect the positive trend will continue into this summer and visitor arrivals will further increase by 20 to 25%. Unless the European debt crisis and the global economy deteriorate, we expect visitor arrivals to maintain its steady growth in the latter half of this year. Leveraging on the growth momentum, the HKTB has already planned a series of promotions and mega events to stimulate greater desire and interest in visiting Hong Kong.”

The table below summarizes visitor arrivals from different market regions in the first six months and in June 2010:

*Total figure includes arrivals from Macau SAR            

The positive outlook for the mainland China economy bolstered travel and consumption sentiments, bringing 10.48 million Mainland visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in the first half of this year — the first time the half-yearly figure went past 10 million. Mainland China also saw the greatest year-on-year growth (+26.9%) in cumulative visitor arrivals among all market regions.

For other short-haul markets, Taiwan registered a 12% gain in arrivals, to 1.05 million, as a result of increasing vacation travellers from the island in the first six months of this year. Other markets, including Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia, also recorded double-digit growth because of such positive factors as currency appreciation and increased flights. Overall, visitor arrivals from the short-haul market regions (excluding mainland China) added up to more than 3.78 million, an increase of 21.6%.   

As for the long-haul markets, the improved world economy has spurred recovery in business travel. As a result, many long-haul markets recorded growth over last year, contributing to an increase of more than 10% in overall long-haul arrivals for the first six months of this year, which totalled 2.24 million. Among these, arrivals from the U.S. reached 560,000, a 10.6%-increase that made the country the best performing long-haul market.

Emerging markets, including India (+58.4%), the Middle East (24.1%) and Russia (134.1%), continued to experience significant increases in arrival figures, owing to more frequent flights between Hong Kong and the three markets.

In the first half of 2010, more than 9.47 million visitors, or 56.2% of all visitors to Hong Kong, were overnight visitors. The figure represented a 21.2%-rise compared to the same period last year. Overnight visitor arrivals from all major market regions increased notably, especially in the short-haul markets, including South and Southeast Asia (+26.7%), Taiwan (+26.5%) and North Asia (+26.1%).