Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals for July 2008

Hong Kong's 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 which started in June 2008, led by rising fuel prices, a global economic slowdown and the visa policy adjustments made by Mainland China.

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.

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.

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.

See also: Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals for June and 1st Half 2008 and other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Promotions, New Hotels, Hong Kong, Visitor Arrivals