Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals in January 2010

Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong reached 2,960,319 in January 2010, 5.9% more than in January 2009.

As the global economy is stabilising and consumers’ sentiments to travel gradually recover, most short-haul and long-haul market regions recorded remarkable growth in arrivals as compared to January 2009, when arrivals from these regions were plagued by the global financial crisis. In particular, North Asia achieved a very significant gain (+29.1%), driven by the upsurge of arrivals from South Korea (+40.5%) due to the appreciation of the Won currency and rebound in outbound travel.

Mainland China, however, saw a milder increase in the first month of the year, given the relatively higher base of arrivals as a result of the Chinese New Year holiday last January.

For Taiwan, while arrivals are continually impacted by the direct flights, there has been growth in the number of vacation visitors. As a result, total arrivals from the island registered a slight gain (+0.2%) in January 2010.

Emerging markets, namely India (+47.3%), Russia (+141.9%) and the Middle East (+41.8% ), continued their upward trend since the last quarter of 2009, with arrivals substantially boosted by a number of reasons, such as expanded flight capacity, visa-free arrangements and the increased propensity to travel.

Same-Day In-Town Visitors

Overall, some 56.3% of all visitors to Hong Kong in January stayed in the city for at least one night, 1.1 percentage points lower than in the same month in 2009. The remaining 43.7% same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destination on the same day they arrived.

Hotel Occupancy

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in January 2010 was 87%, 8 percentage points higher than in January 2009. The geographic locations with the highest occupancy were Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, where hotels recorded an average occupancy rate of 92%. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,096, 1.9% lower than in January 2009.

Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals from Different Market Regions

See also: Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals in January 2009, Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals in January 2008 and Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals in 2009

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