Hong Kong's shorthaul arrivals jump, other markets shaky

VISITOR numbers to Hong Kong may have leapt by 13.8 per cent year-on-year to 4.4 million in July, but several markets saw negative growth, including those from Europe and South-east Asia.

According to latest figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board, visitors from China and Macau represented the bulk of arrivals (3.3 million) in July, with the markets jointly posting a 21.9 per cent year-on-year increase.

This was in contrast to longhaul markets such as Europe, Africa and the Middle East (162,054, -5.1 per cent); the Americas (143,604 arrivals, +4.9 per cent); and Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific (57,773, -7.4 per cent).

Asian source markets hardly fared any better. South and South-east Asia contributed 261,583 visitors (-11.6 per cent), while there were 203,164 arrivals from Taiwan (-6.2 per cent).

Meanwhile, North Asia performed decently (199,823, +5.7 per cent).

Total arrivals over the first seven months registered 26.7 million, a 15.2 per cent increase.

Last month, 50.7 per cent of visitors to Hong Kong were overnight arrivals, 3.6 per cent more than in July 2011. The rest were same-day, in-town arrivals, a 26.7 per cent hike over the same period last year.

Sourced: TTG Asia