Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals for August 2007

Hong Kong visitor arrivals in August 2007 numbered 2,758,337, the highest single-month total on record. The achievement represents 16.9% growth over last August. Arrivals from Mainland China also increased by a substantial 23.5% to over 1.68 million – the best-ever monthly record for the Mainland.

All long and short-haul market regions showed positive gain this August. On top of Mainland China, Europe, Africa and the Middle East and Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific also performed exceptionally well:

• Mainland China: 1,685,555 (+23.5%)
• Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific: 56,625 (+16.7%)
• Europe, Africa and the Middle East: 181,099 (+15.6%)
• North Asia: 203,029 (+8.8%)
• South & Southeast Asia: 217,893 (+8.5%)
• The Americas: 130,494 (+7.1%)
• Taiwan: 214,495 (+1.2%)

Among the individual source markets, both South Korea (+30.7%) and the Philippines (+28.5%), which have been identified by the HKTB as high-potential markets, as well as the Middle East (+28.7%) and Russia (+17.1%), which are considered emerging markets, continued their robust performance.

In August, there were more than 1.78 million overnight visitor arrivals (64.6% of the total), with the remainder of more than 976,000 (35.4%) classified as same-day in-town visitors. 

The cumulative arrivals for January-August 2007 now stand at 18,242,929, an increase of 9% over the same period last year. Out of this total, more than 11.21 million or 61.5% stayed in the city for at least one night, while those who left on the same day of arrival exceeded 7.02 million (38.5%).

August 2007 Arrivals by Markets

Arrivals from Mainland China grew by 23.5% to 1,685,555 in August, bringing the cumulative January-August arrivals to 10,175,824, 9.8% ahead of the same period last year. Of the Mainland arrivals in August, 1,052,553 or 62.4% travelled under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), a year-on-year increase of 34%. This took the cumulative IVS arrivals in January-August 2007 to more than 5.70 million, which represents 56.1% of visitors from the Mainland and growth of 25.1%.

Arrivals from Taiwan reached 214,495 in August, a slight increase of 1.2%. This brought the January-August cumulative total from the island to 1,493,926, a rise of 1.4%.

Arrivals from South and Southeast Asia in August numbered 217,893, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%. The Philippines was again the strongest individual market in the region, with growth of 28.5%, followed by Singapore (+14.5%) and Malaysia (+11.9%). The region’s January-August total stood at 1,762,774, an increase of 6.7%.

There were 203,029 visitors from North Asia in August, comprising 114,216 visitors from Japan, a drop of 3.8%, and 88,813 from South Korea, an increase of 30.7%. Cumulative January-August arrivals stood at 1,419,632, 8.6% more than in 2006, with arrivals from Japan up by 1.6% and those from South Korea by 21.4%.

Arrivals from Europe, Africa and the Middle East reached 181,099 in August, a year-on-year increase of 15.6%. Among the individual markets in this region, the UK (45,846, +23.1%), France (23,364, +14.8%) and the Middle East (18,415 arrivals, +28.7%) registered double-digit increases. The cumulative 8-month arrivals numbered 1,382,524, a 16.2% increase.

Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific delivered 56,625 visitors, 16.7% more than that of last August. Both Australia (46,126 +15.5%) and New Zealand (10,065 +25.3%) showed strong gain. The cumulative 8-month arrivals for the region reached 474,252, 12.1% ahead of the same period of 2006.

The Americas also enjoyed healthy growth in August, with arrivals increasing by 7.1% to 130,494. In particular, Canada recorded strong growth of 21.3%, while South & Central America increased by 14%. This took overall arrivals from the region in the first eight months of 2007 to 1,122,445, 7% more than in the same period in 2006.

August 2007 Same-Day In-Town Visitors

Some 64.6% of all visitors to Hong Kong in August stayed in the city for at least one night, 2.1 percentage points lower than for the same month last year. The remaining 35.4% same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival.

Between January and August 2007, 61.5% of all visitors stayed one night or more, 1.5 percentage points lower than for the first eight months of 2006.

August 2007 Hotel Occupancy

The average occupancy across all categories of hotels in August was 91%, two percentage points higher than in August 2006. The geographic locations with the highest occupancies in August were Yau Ma Tei / Mong Kok, where hotels recorded rates of 95%. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories for the month was HK$1,043, 13.4% higher than in August 2006. The average occupancy across all categories of hotels for January-August 2007 was 85%, two percentage points lower than in the same period in 2006. The average achieved room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,143, 12.7% higher than in the first eight months of 2006.

See also: Hong Kong Visitor Arivals for July 2007 and other recent news regarding: Hong Kong, Visitor Arrivals