Bangkok--2 Sep--Francom Asia Figures released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) showed that visitor arrivals in July 2008 reached 2,709,375, 10.4% more than in July 2007. This brings cumulative arrivals for the first seven months of 2008 to 16,894,879, 9.1% ahead of the same period last year. In July 2008, Mainland China was the best performing of all long- and short-haul market regions, with arrivals growing by 19.4% to 1,660,243. The majority of international markets, especially the long-haul markets, continued their recent downward trend since June 2008, as led by rising fuel surcharge, global economic slowdown and visa policy adjustment by Mainland China. Below summarises visitor arrivals from different market regions: - Mainland China: 1,660,243 (+19.4%) - North Asia: 184,375 (+2.4%) - Taiwan: 214,586 (+0.6%) - South & Southeast Asia: 222,196 (-3.1%) - Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific: 61,677 (-3.5%) - Europe, Africa & the Middle East: 151,709 (-10.8%) - The Americas: 134,311 (-11.6%) Out of the total Mainland arrivals in July 2008, 1,014,717 or 61.1% arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme, 26.9% more than in July 2007. Cumulatively, there were 5,375,050 arrivals under the Individual Visit Scheme in the first seven months of 2008, 15.5% more than for the same period in 2007. Overnight Vs Same-Day In-Town Visitors Some 59.6% of all visitors to Hong Kong in July stayed in the city for at least one night, 3.6 percentage points lower than for the same month last year. The remaining 40.4% same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival. July 2008 Hotel Occupancy Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in July 2008 was 89%, one percentage point lower than in July 2007. The geographic location with the highest occupancy was Eastern Hong Kong, where hotels recorded occupancy rate of 91%. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,095, 6% higher than in July 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 photo from the HKTB’s DiscoverHongKong.com website: http://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/worldwide/medi/ww_medi_news.jhtml For media enquiries, please contact: Thai Media Ms. Wandee Lerdsupongkit Tel: 0 2233 4329/30 or 0 2233 4338/9 Fax: 0 2236 8030 E-mail: [email protected] Long-haul Regions and South & Southeast Asia Media Miss Mayee Tang Tel: 2807 6239 Fax: 2503 6239 E-mail: [email protected]