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The Hong Kong Tourism Board announced that visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in July 2010 reached the highest ever single-month level at 3,136,794, a robust increase of 31.9% year-on-year. For the first seven months of this year, total visitor arrivals amounted to 19,992,810, representing a 24.4%-rise compared to the same period last year.
The arrivals base for comparison this July is relatively lower, given that visitor arrivals in the same month last year were impacted by the human swine flu. Notwithstanding so, the gain in visitor arrivals in July was strongly encouraging, with arrivals surpassing the July 2008 figure by 15.8%.
The growth in overall arrivals in July was led by Mainland China, the arrivals from which exceeded 2 million. The figure was not only 40% more than in last July, but was also the highest monthly figure for the market. This significant growth could be attributed to the fact that summer is a popular travel season among Mainland visitors. In addition, the implementation of measures under the Individual Visit Scheme in Shenzhen has made it easier for Shenzhen residents to visit Hong Kong.
Among other short-haul markets, South and Southeast Asia achieved nearly 40%-increase in arrivals, as there were greater travel sentiments resulting from the improved economic conditions and increased flight capacity. Taiwan also recorded growth of 10.4%, a sign that the effect of direct cross-strait flights is stabilising.
Meanwhile, visitor arrivals from the long-haul markets also grew steadily. Overall arrivals from these markets in July went up by 10.6% compared to the same month last year. As for the emerging markets, Russia, the Middle East and India registered growth of 86.0%, 47.5% and 44.9% respectively, as propelled by such factors as economic recovery and more frequent flights.
Overnight Visitors
In July 2010, overnight visitors exceeded 1.82 million. The figure represented 58.3% of all visitors to Hong Kong and was 35.7% more than in July 2009. The increase was contributed by the rise in overnight visitors from most market regions, especially short-haul markets, such as Taiwan (+46.1%), Mainland China (+44.9%) and South and Southeast Asia (+42.7%).
Cumulatively, between January and July this year, overnight visitors amounted to 11.3 million, or 56.6% of all visitors to Hong Kong, a year-on-year increase of 23.3%.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
