Monthly visitor arrivals to Hong Kong surpass 4mn
28 September 2011
[Press release] The Hong Kong Tourism Board has announced that for the first time in record, visitor arrivals to Hong Kong surpassed four million in a single month, with arrivals in August reaching 4,065,761, a year-on-year growth of 17.7%. In the first eight months of 2011, visitor arrivals amounted to 27,236,330, 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.”
Below summarises visitor arrivals from different market regions in August and the first eight months of 2011:
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August
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January to August
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Market Regions
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2011
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Vs. 2010
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2011
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Vs. 2010
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Long-haul markets
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356,187
|
+2.3%
|
|
3,051,761
|
+2.5%
|
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The Americas
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131,941
|
+2.7%
|
|
1,169,325
|
+4.9%
|
|
Europe, Africa and the Middle East
|
172,862
|
+2.8%
|
|
1,397,917
|
+1.3%
|
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Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific
|
51,384
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-0.5%
|
|
484,519
|
+0.5%
|
|
Short-haul markets (excl. Mainland China & Macau)
|
705,453
|
+8.8%
|
|
5,344,640
|
+4.7%
|
|
North Asia
|
223,352
|
+8.0%
|
|
1,508,932
|
+4.2%
|
|
South and Southeast Asia
|
286,781
|
+20.0%
|
|
2,370,169
|
+8.3%
|
|
Taiwan
|
195,320
|
-3.7%
|
|
1,465,539
|
-0.2%
|
|
Mainland China
|
2,914,914
|
+23.0%
|
|
18,289,606
|
+23.0%
|
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Total*
|
4,065,761
|
+17.7%
|
|
27,236,330
|
+16.2%
|
*Total figure includes arrivals from Macau SAR
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