Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals for October 2006

Overall tourism arrivals to Hong Kong reached 2,194,130 in October, 2.3% more than in the same month in 2005. Cumulative arrivals from January to October stand at 20,766,106, a rise of 8.7%.

More than 1.35 million arrivals (62% of the total) in October stayed in Hong Kong for at least one night, with the remainder of over 834,000 (38%) classified as same-day in-town visitors. This takes the cumulative January-October total for overnight visitors to more than 13.01 million (62.7%), with more than 7.75 million (37.3%) leaving on the day of arrival.

Arrivals from key regional source markets were:

Mainland China: 1,083,361 (-2.8%); Taiwan: 184,003 (-5.0%); South & Southeast Asia: 259,416 (18.4%); North Asia: 161,565 (6.7%); Europe, Africa and the Middle East: 224,216 (9.3%); The Americas: 169,692 (5.4%); and Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific: 65,041 (11.5%).

Visitors from Mainland China represented 49.4% of October arrivals. Of these, 539,808 travelled under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), 49.8% of the Mainland total and 6% more than in the same month last year.

October 2006 Arrivals by Markets

The 1,083,361 arrivals from the Mainland in October takes the total for the first 10 months of 2006 to more than 11.28 million, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%. The number of arrivals to Hong Kong in October travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) reached more than 539,000, 49.8% of the total, which represents 6.0% growth over the same month in 2005. Cumulative January-October IVS arrivals stand at more than 5.52 million, which is 49% of all visitors from the Mainland. 

The 184,003 arrivals from Taiwan in October 2006 bring the 10-month total from the island to 1,822,824, a 2.2% increase.

October arrivals from South and Southeast Asia, the best-performing short-haul market region, number 259,416, taking the total from January to 2,100,490, an 11.7% increase. Individual markets in the region showing the strongest October growth are Indonesia (145.4%) and Malaysia (26.1%).

The 161,565 North Asian arrivals in October comprise 100,137 visitors from Japan, an increase of 6.3%, and 61,428 from South Korea, a rise of 7.4%. Cumulative arrivals for January-October number 1,637,923, 8.4% more than in 2005, with Japanese arrivals up by 8.6% and those from South Korea by 8.2%.

The 224,216 (9.3%) arrivals from Europe, Africa and the Middle East in October take the cumulative 10-month total to 1,565,661, a 9.7% increase. Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific’s 65,041 visitors bring the January-October total to 549,883, a 7.6% increase, while The Americas’ 169,692 visitors take cumulative arrivals from the region to 1,339,620, up 4.3%.

October 2006 Same-Day In-Town Visitors

Some 62% of all visitors to Hong Kong in October stayed in the city for at least one night, which is 0.6 of a percentage point lower than for the same month last year. The remaining 38% were same-day in-town visitors who either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival.

Between January and October 2006, 62.7% of all visitors stayed for one night or more, 0.3 of a percentage point lower than for the first 10 months of 2005.

October 2006 Hotel Occupancy

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels and tourist guesthouses in October was 85%. This is three percentage points lower than in October 2005, which can be partly explained by the 4% increase in Hong Kong’s hotel-room supply in the intervening 12 months.

The geographic locations with the highest occupancies in October were (as always) Yau Ma Tei/Mong Kok, where hotels recorded rates of 90%.

The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,387, 17.5% higher than in October 2005.

The average occupancy across all categories of hotels and tourist guesthouses for January-October 2006 is 86%, 2 percentage points higher than in the same period in 2005. The average achieved room rate across all hotel categories is HK$1,065, 16.4% higher than in the first 10 months of 2005.

See also: Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals for September 2006

See other recent news regarding: Hong Kong, Visitor Arrivals