Bangkok--30 Mar--Francom Asia
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced that visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in February 2011 amounted to 2,923,070, 2.0% higher than the same month last year. Cumulative arrivals for the first two months of 2011, which reflected the full impact of the Lunar New Year, sustained double-digit growth of 11.9% to reach 6,521,100.
Below summarises visitor arrivals from different market regions in February and the first two months of 2011:
February January to February
Market Regions 2011 Vs2010 2011 Vs2010
Long-haul markets 292,355 +6.5% 678,407 +3.7%
The Americas 107,691 +9.1% 249,195 +7.2%
Europe, Africa and the Middle East 141,806 +6.0% 314,408 +2.6%
Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific 42,858 +1.7% 114,804 -0.6%
Short-haul markets (excl. Mainland China & Macau) 564,076 +7.6% 1,205,781 +5.6%
North Asia 190,027 +19.5% 405,946 +14.0%
South and Southeast Asia 208,270 +18.0% 451,353 +8.6%
Taiwan 165,779 -12.1% 348,482 -6.0%
Mainland China 2,008,173 -0.1% 4,511,324 +15.2%
Total* 2,923,070 +2.0% 6,521,100 +11.9%
*Total figure includes arrivals from Macau SAR
Past experiences have shown that many Mainland visitors used to come to Hong Kong for shopping and vacation before and during the Lunar New Year, leading to a surge in Mainland arrivals. This was reflected in the February arrival figure last year, when the Lunar New Year fell in the middle of the month. This year, however, the Lunar New Year effect began as early as late January, given that the festival fell in early February. As a result, Mainland arrivals remained at relatively the same level of around two million as in last February. Nevertheless, for the first two months of 2011 combined, Mainland market growth stands at 15.2% to 4.51 million.
For the short-haul market regions, their cumulative arrivals increased by 5.6% to 1.2 million. In February alone, both North Asia (Japan and South Korea) and Southeast Asia achieved remarkable growth of 19.5% and 18.5% respectively. This could be attributed to the joint efforts of the HKTB and its trade partners to package the festive activities attractively to travellers in the region. In spite of these encouraging results, the recent earthquake and related incidents in Japan are expected to impact consumers’ sentiments to travel and in turn visitor arrivals from Japan to Hong Kong. As such, the HKTB has temporarily put on hold its promotions in the market, and is closely monitoring the situation, so that it can adapt its strategies and relaunch promotions as and when appropriate.
Meanwhile, in Taiwan, overnight arrivals in February were maintained at relatively the same level as in last February. However, the increased number of cross-strait direct flights and special airfare by the airlines during the Lunar New Year period led to a drop in same-day arrivals, causing the overall arrivals from Taiwan to decline by 12.1% year-on-year.
For the long-haul markets, notwithstanding the fact that the Lunar New Year month is a quieter season for business travel to Hong Kong, there was steady increase in arrivals during February. The Americas showed the best performance with a 9.1%-increase. For the first two months of this year, total long-haul arrivals exceeded 670,000, 3.7% more than the same period last year.
Moving to the three emerging markets, namely India, the Middle East and Russia, double-digit growth of 12.4%, 14.9% and 35.1% was recorded respectively in February. Besides benefiting from the economic growth in these markets, the satisfactory performance demonstrates that the determined efforts of the HKTB and the local trade in enhancing awareness and interest in Hong Kong among the consumers and travel trade in these markets were paying off.
Overnight Visitors vs. Same-Day, in-Town Visitors
In February 2011, 1.63 million or 56.0% of all visitors to Hong Kong stayed in the city overnight, 2.7% more than last year. Same-day in-town visitors also rose by 1.1% to more than 1.28 million.
For January and February combined, overnight visitors reached 3.42 million, representing 52.5% of all visitors to Hong Kong and an increase of 5.1%. Same-day visitors added up to 3.09 million, 20.6% more than last year.
Note:
Visitor arrivals mentioned in this release include both overnight visitors and same-day in-town visitors. According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), visitors are divided into two categories:
(i) tourists or overnight visitors, if the trip involves an overnight stay; and
(ii) same-day visitors or excursionists, if the trip does not involve an overnight stay.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Wandee Lerdsupongkit - HKTB Press Information Center
Tel. 02233 4329/30 Fax 02236 8030 Email:
[email protected]