Bangkok--3 Jan--Francom Asia
Visitor numbers to Hong Kong exceeded 2.08 million in November, representing growth of 1.0% compared with the same month in 2005, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced today (27 December). This takes cumulative arrivals for January-November 2006 to more than 22.84 million, an increase of 8.0%.
Over 1.29 million November arrivals (62.4% of the total) stayed in the city for at least one night, with the remainder of more than 783,000 (37.6%) classified as same-day in-town visitors. Cumulative arrivals for overnight visitors in January-November stand at more than 14.30 million (62.6%), the other 8.53 million (37.4%) leaving on the day of arrival.
Arrivals from key regional source markets were:
- Mainland China: 1,043,726 (-2.5%);
- Taiwan: 167,346 (0.4%);
- South & Southeast Asia: 240,236 (-3.5%);
- North Asia: 188,920 (12.3%);
- Europe, Africa & the Middle East: 188,630 (15.4%);
- The Americas: 155,463 (2.5%); and
- Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific: 54,632 (7.7%).
Visitors from Mainland China represented 50.1% of November arrivals. Travellers under the Individual Visit Scheme in November numbered 483,082, 46.5% of the Mainland total and 8.7% more than in the same month last year.
Media enquiries: please contact Khun Wandee Lerdsupongkit or Wipakorn Komonkitisakul (tel: 02233 4338/9, 02233 4329/30; fax: 02236 8030; or e-mail: [email protected] ).
November 2006 Overall Arrival Statistics
- Overall tourism arrivals to Hong Kong numbered 2,081,772 in November, a 1.0% increase compared with the same month in 2005. Cumulative arrivals for January to November stand at 22,847,878, a rise of 8.0%.
November 2006 Arrivals by Markets
- November arrivals from the Mainland numbered 1,043,726, taking the total for the first 11 months of 2006 to more than 12.32 million, an increase of 8.5%. Arrivals travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) in November reached 483,082, 46.5% of the total, representing 8.7% growth over the same month in 2005. Cumulative January-November IVS arrivals stand at more than 6.0 million, which represents 48.8% of all Mainland visitors.
- The 167,346 arrivals from Taiwan in November took the 11-month total from the island to 1,990,170, a rise of 2.1%.
- Arrivals from South & Southeast Asia in November numbered 240,236, a fall of 3.5% compared with the same month in 2005. Nonetheless, the January-November total stands at 2,340,726, an increase of 9.9%. India was the strongest individual market in the region, with growth of 13.5% in November.
- There were 188,920 visitors from North Asia in November, comprising 124,450 visitors from Japan, a rise of 8.2%, and 64,470 from South Korea, whose 21.4% growth made it the best-performing major individual market during the month. Cumulative January-November arrivals stand at 1,826,843, 8.8% more than in 2005, with visitor numbers from Japan up by 8.5% and those from South Korea by 9.4%.
- Arrivals from Europe, Africa and the Middle East, the strongest market region in November stand at 188,630. This takes cumulative 11-month arrivals to 1,754,291, a 10.3% increase. Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific delivered 54,632 visitors, bringing the January-November total to 604,515, a rise of 7.6%, while the 155,463 arrivals from The Americas take overall arrivals from the region to 1,495,083, 4.1% more than in the same period in 2005.
November 2006 Same-Day In-Town Visitors
- Some 62.4% of all visitors to Hong Kong in November stayed in the city for at least one night, which is 1.5 percentage points lower than for the same month last year. The remaining 37.6% same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival.
- Between January and November 2006, 62.6% of all visitors stayed one night or more, 0.5 of a percentage point lower than for the first 11 months of 2005.
November 2006 Hotel Occupancy
- Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels and tourist guesthouses in November was 90%. This is five percentage points lower than in November 2005, which can be partly explained by the 3.5% increase in Hong Kong’s hotel-room supply in the intervening 12 months.
- The geographic locations with the highest occupancies in November were Yau Ma Tei/Mong Kok, where hotels recorded rates of 94%.
- The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,234, 19.7% higher than in November 2005.
- The average occupancy across all categories of hotels and tourist guesthouses for January-November 2006 is 86%, one percentage point higher than in the same period in 2005. The average achieved room rate across all hotel categories is HK$1,080, 16.7% higher than in the first 11 months of 2005.