Double-digit increase in April visitors

Hong Kong received a total of 2,796,311visitors in April 2010, a 14.6% year-on-year increase, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Total arrivals from January to April reached 11,420,999, or 16% higher than last year’s figure for the same period. For the first time ever, visitor arrivals exceeded the 10-million mark within the first four months of a year. 

The table below summarizes visitor arrivals for April and the first four months of 2010:

* Total figure includes arrivals from Macau SAR

In April, mainland China continued to be Hong Kong’s leading source market, sustaining double-digit increase in visitor arrivals as a result of persistent economic growth and strong travel and consumption sentiments in the Mainland.  

Other short-haul markets also recorded growth of almost 15%. The performances of North Asia and South and Southeast Asia were especially notable. As the global economic environment improves and business activities pick up, the number of business travelers has increased, leading to a rise in arrivals from the regions. In particular, arrivals from Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand registered growth that ranged from 15% to almost 30%. In South Korea, the appreciation of the won currency created stronger propensity to travel, causing arrivals from the country to surge by almost 30% this April.

Emerging markets continued their upward growth trend. Increased flight capacity has resulted in a 65.5% increase in visitor arrivals from India, while the gain in the Middle East (+22.6%) was attributed to better economic conditions and travel sentiments. For Russia, the phenomenal increase of 108.5% was due to the positive impact of visa-free arrangements and the relatively lower base for comparison.

In the long-haul markets, most market regions registered steady growth compared with the same period in 2009. Notwithstanding the eruption of volcano Eyjafjallajokull in Iceland, which incapacitated air traffic in various European countries for a short period of time, there was no major impact on the overall arrivals from the related source markets in April.

This April, overnight visitors accounted for 56.4%, or 1,577,591, of all visitor arrivals to Hong Kong, which represented a 14% increase compared with April last year. Overnight visitors from most market regions rose by at least 10%, with particularly outstanding performance in the Mainland (+17.6%) and other short-haul markets, such as South Korea (+27.1%), India (+61.5%) and Indonesia (+28.0%).

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in April 2010 was 86%, 7 percentage points higher than in April 2009. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was US$158.84, a 15.2% increase compared with the same month last year. 

'Summer Spectacular' to run through August

For more information see the following website.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) launched a series of promotional activities between June 11 and August 31 under the “Hong Kong Summer Spectacular” banner. 

This year’s theme — “Hot Events. Cool Place” — shines the limelight on an enchanting list of summer events and special offers, which are expected to create a business platform for the local tourism, retail and catering sectors.

To rev up spending in the city, the HKTB is collaborating with Visa on a first-ever, large-scale shopping contest for participation by both Hong Kong residents and visitors. In addition, there are promotions featuring local cartoon character McDull that are designed to entice family visitors, including parents and students, to spend their summer holiday in the hot city.  

HKTB Executive Director Anthony Lau said: “In light of the continuous tourism developments in the region and the positive travel and consumption sentiments, the HKTB is seizing the opportunity this summer to promote to visitors Hong Kong’s image as a fantastic and fun travel destination.”            

The HKTB has allocated US$5.44 million to this year’s summer promotions, more than 80% of which will be used for publicity in source markets, targeting the young and family travelers in the Mainland and other short-haul markets.            

The HKTB will focus on promoting a range of summer events and activities, which will include the first-ever “Hong Kong Dragon Boat Carnival” and the second staging of the concert “Summer Pop — Live in Hong Kong,” as well as activities organized by different tourist attractions and organizations. In addition, the HKTB will coordinate with the organizers of various consumer fairs, such as the Hong Kong Book Fair, the Food Expo and Hong Kong Computer and Communications Festival, to give out free tickets to visitors so that they can take part in an exciting array of activities and events any time they come to Hong Kong during the “Hong Kong Summer Spectacular” period.

The “Hong Kong Summer Spectacular” promotion has gained support from the local tourism, retail and catering sectors. Ten major shopping malls are offering visitors free gifts and shopping discounts, while more than 130 restaurants are giving visitors souvenirs and buy-one, get-one-free drink offers. Various hotels and accommodation facilities accredited under the Quality Tourism Services Scheme are also running summer promotions.