Bangkok--8 Mar--Francom Asia
The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced that visitor arrivals to Hong Kong reached 4,142,042 in January 2012, representing a 15.1% year-on-year increase. The growth was mainly led by the increased visitor traffic from Mainland China during the Chinese New Year holiday, which fell in February last year but January this year. As a result, arrivals from the Mainland rose by over 20%. On the contrary, the performance of short-haul and long-haul markets was relatively sluggish. Below are visitor arrivals for various market regions in January:
- Mainland China: Total arrivals went up by 23.9% to 3,101,578.
- Short-haul markets: Overall arrivals fell by 4.9%, but South Korea and the Philippines registered growth of 7.7% and 10.3% respectively.
- Long-haul markets: Overall arrivals dropped by 6.2% year-on-year.
Market Region Jan 2012 Compared to Jan 2011
Long-haul Markets 362,000 -6.2%
The Americas 130,596 -7.7%
Europe, Africa and the Middle East 161,659 -6.3%
Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific 69,745 -3.1%
Short-haul Markets(excl. Mainland China and Macau) 610,379 -4.9%
North Asia 204,309 -5.4%
South and Southeast Asia 227,883 -6.3%
Taiwan 178,187 -2.5%
Mainland China 3,101,578 +23.9%
Total* 4,142,042 +15.1%
*Total figure includes arrivals from Macau SAR
Overnight Visitors
In January, overnight arrivals and same-day arrivals each took up about half of the total arrivals, with the former reaching 2.05 million (+14.3%), while the latter standing at some 2.10 million (+15.9%). Among all markets, Mainland China registered the biggest growth in overnight arrivals at about 1.40 million, accounting for a 24.5% increase and 45.0% of all Mainland arrivals during the month.