Bangkok--22 Apr--Francom Asia Figures released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) showed that visitor arrivals in February 2008 reached 2,352,456, 2.9% more than in February 2007. This brings cumulative arrivals for the first two months of 2008 to 4,871,022, 9.4% ahead of the same period last year. Sustaining their robust performance, all three long-haul market regions achieved double-digit gain in February 2008. As for the short-haul regions, both North Asia and South & Southeast Asia registered growth of about 20%. Below summarises arrivals from different market regions in February 2008: Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific: 47,628 (+26.2%) North Asia: 190,683 (+20.7%) Europe, Africa & the Middle East: 154,789 (+20.1%) South & Southeast Asia: 169,412 (+19.5%) The Americas: 114,029 (+14.1%) Mainland China: 1,442,302 (-2.6%) Taiwan: 178,018 (-5.6%) As for the individual source markets, continued strong growth was recorded in various high-potential markets, such as South Korea (+50.1%) and the Philippines (+12.9%), as well as in the emerging market of Russia (+46.9%) and India (+10.8%). Out of the total Mainland arrivals in February 2008, 855,331 or 59.3% arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), 6.9% less than last February. Overnight Vs Same-Day In-Town Visitors Some 59.0% of all visitors to Hong Kong in February stayed in the city for at least one night, three percentage points lower than for the same month last year. The remaining 41.0% same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival. Taiwan continued to have the highest percentage — at least seven out of every 10 — of same-day arrivals, as many visitors travelled en-route to the Mainland or other destinations. Meanwhile, Taiwanese visitors have been making use of the direct ferry services from Hong Kong International Airport’s SkyPier to Pearl River Delta destinations, without passing through Hong Kong immigration. The 42.2% of visitors from the Mainland who left Hong Kong on the same day of arrival in February 2008 represent a 4.6 percentage-point increase year-on-year, as the Individual Visit Scheme has made it more convenient for Mainland visitors to make short, consumption visits to Hong Kong. As a result, the average per capita spending and overall contribution to total tourism receipts by Mainland same-day arrivals have been on the increasing trend. February 2008 Hotel Occupancy Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in February 2008 was 80%, same as in February 2007. The geographic location with the highest occupancy was Yau Ma Tei/Mong Kok, where hotels recorded occupancy rate of 84%. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,132, 10.6% higher than in February 2007. 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. Media can download the press release and attachments from the HKTB’s DiscoverHongKong.com website: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/worldwide/medi/ww_medi_news.jhtml