Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals for March 2008

Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in March 2008 reached 2,404,499, 11.2% more than in March 2007. This brings cumulative arrivals for the first quarter of 2008 to 7,275,521, 10% ahead of the same period last year.

In March 2008, Mainland China was the best performing of all long and short-haul market regions, with arrivals growing by 16.8% to 1,269,673. Below summarises visitor arrivals from different market regions:

• Mainland China: 1,269,673 (+16.8%)
• South and Southeast Asia: 264,951 (+10.2%)
• Europe, Africa & the Middle East: 226,862 (+8.8%)
• Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific: 66,117 (+7.7%)
• The Americas: 173,739 (+7.6%)
• Taiwan: 167,130 (no change)
• North Asia: 186,925 (-1.6%)

As for the individual source markets, arrivals from non-Mainland markets took up 47.2% of the total monthly arrivals. In particular, double-digit growth was recorded in the high-potential market of South Korea (+13.3%), as well as in such emerging markets as the Middle East (+15.7%), Russia (+27.0%) and India (+13.8%).

Out of the total Mainland arrivals in March 2008, 681,159 or 53.6% arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme, 23.1% more than in March 2007. Cumulatively, there were 2,370,234 arrivals under the Individual Visit Scheme in the first three months of 2008, 11.7% more than for the same period in 2007.

Some 57.5% of all visitors to Hong Kong in March stayed in the city for at least one night, 2.4 percentage points lower than for the same month last year. The remaining 42.5% 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 (74.1%) of same-day arrivals, as many visitors travelled en-route to the Mainland or other destinations. As for Mainland China, 47.2% of visitors left Hong Kong on the same day of arrival in March 2008, an increase of almost four percentage points over March 2007, as Mainland visitors capitalise on the convenience offered by the Individual Visit Scheme to make same-day consumption visits to Hong Kong. Together Mainland China and Taiwan contributed 70.7% of the same-day arrivals in March 2008.

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in March 2008 was 86%, three percentage points lower than in March 2007. The geographic location with the highest occupancy remains, as always, Yau Ma Tei/Mong Kok, where hotels recorded occupancy rate of 90%. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,362, 3.6% higher than in March 2007.

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