Visitor arrivals rose 11.5% to 5.88m in October

Mainland tourists accounted for nearly 80% of monthly arrivals.

Visitor arrivals in Hong Kong picked up pace to book double-digit growth of 11.5% YoY to 5.88 million in October as a sustained surge in Mainland tourists continued to prop up the SAR’s headline tourism figures, according to the Tourism Board.

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There were 4.65 million visitors from Mainland China in November which represents a 15.4% YoY increase. The inbound tourism was more than enough to offset the mild 1.2% decline in visitor arrivals from non-Mainland China markets which fell to 1.23 million in November.

The number of visitors from short-haul markets also fell 3.6% to 719,732 led by broad-based declines in tourists from Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. On the other hand, tourist numbers from Japan, Philippines and Thailand rose.

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Visitors from new markets which include India, GCC Markets, Russia, Netherlands and Vietnam also fell by 3.8% in November.

On the other hand, the number of tourists from long haul markets rose slightly by 3.4% to 447,957 in November supported by visitor influx from USA, UK, Germany and Australia.