For the first time, Hong Kong`s tourism industry exceeds the number of two million in one month, according to the statistics…
For the first time, Hong Kong`s tourism industry exceeds the number of two million in one month, according to the statistics for August 2004. This is the second month in a row that the record has been broken, following the 1.99 million arrivals achieved in July.
August`s total of 2,066,469 arrivals represents an encouraging 25.6% growth on the same month in 2003 – a fair benchmark of progress as for the first time since February, year-on-year comparisons are not significantly influenced by the SARS factor. By this time last year, Hong Kong had already made a V-shaped recovery from the impact of SARS; indeed, August 2003 was itself a record-breaking month.
Nearly 1.24 million of the August 2004 arrivals came from Mainland China, another new record. Nevertheless, the strong performance was reflected across all long-haul and short-haul markets, with all market regions except Taiwan showing double-digit growth. August is always a strong month for leisure travel, coinciding with school summer holidays in many key markets, while a major attraction this year was the Hong Kong Tourism Board`s, Hong Kong Shopping Festival, which started in late June and continued right through July and August. Total arrivals during the Festival period reached 4.34 million and at least HK$1.5 billion worth of retail and restaurant spending was generated.
HKTB Executive Director Clara Chong said that further new records could well be set in the last quarter of the year which was always considered a peak season for Hong Kong. We have the China National Day `Golden Week` coming up at the beginning of October, and expect to welcome around 400,000 Mainland visitors during that 10-day travel period, she noted. In addition, October and November always see a lot of business traffic as many major conventions and exhibitions take place at this time. Then in December, we shall again be launching a major Hong Kong WinterFest promotion to draw family travellers from around the region.
Nevertheless, there are still a few markets such as Japan and Taiwan that have not regained their 2002 levels, Ms Chong added. We are making strong efforts to give Hong Kong a fresh new image in these markets with a series of trade and consumer promotions highlighting the city`s lesser-known attractions.
Arrivals have now passed the 14 million mark in the first eight months of 2004, totalling 14,069,792. This is 58.4% ahead of the same period in 2003 and 35.6% ahead of the 2002 figure.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
