Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals Exceed 13 Million in First Six Months of 2007

Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in the first six months of 2007 grew by 6.8% to more than 13 million. The figure includes more than 2.03 million arrivals to the city in June, which represents a year-on-year growth of 7.7%.

Arrivals from every regional source market increased in the first half of 2007 and in June. Several individual markets that showed strong growth potential last year continued their robust performance and delivered remarkable results in the first six months. These include the Philippines (+19%), India (+10.2%), South Korea (+18.1%), Russia (+18.4%) and the Netherlands (+10.3%).

Of the almost 7.10 million Mainland visitors in the first six months of the year, more than 3.85 million or 54.3% travelled to Hong Kong under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS). This is 21.9% more than the same period last year. As for June 2007, some 51.3% or over 522,000 Mainland arrivals travelled under the IVS, a year-on-year increase of 23.7%.

More than 7.88 million or 60.5% of the total arrivals in January-June stayed in the city for at least one night, while the remaining 5.14 million (39.5%) were classified as same-day in-town visitors. The overnight and same-day arrivals for June 2007 were 1.21 million (59.5%) and 824,100 (40.5%) respectively.

June and First Half of 2007 Arrivals by Markets

Arrivals from Mainland China grew by 6.3% to 1,019,524 in June, bringing the cumulative January-June arrivals to 7,099,715, 5.9% ahead of the same period last year. The number of arrivals travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) reached 522,787 in June, which is 51.3% of the monthly total and 23.7% more than last June. This took cumulative January-June IVS arrivals to 3,852,705, 54.3% of visitors from the Mainland and 21.9% more than the same period last year. 

Arrivals from Taiwan rose by 7.1% to 184,015 in June 2007. This took the cumulative arrivals for January-June to 1,066,187, 2.5% more than the same period in 2006.

The 253,818 arrivals from South and Southeast Asia in June represented a year-on-year increase of 10.6%. Cumulative arrivals for the region in the first six months stood at 1,315,487, 6.1% more than in 2006. The best performing individual markets in the first half of the year were the Philippines (+19.0%, 279,974), Indonesia (+15.5%, 140,145) and India (+10.2%, 160,318). These markets also performed well in June, with arrivals from the Philippines rising by 29.9%, while those from Indonesia and India increased by 24.1% and 20.3% respectively.

There were 169,439 visitors (+7.3%) from North Asia in June, which comprised 61,598 visitors from South Korea, a growth of 18.2%, and 107,841 from Japan, a slight increase of 2%. Cumulative arrivals for January-June numbered 1,036,477, 8% more than in 2006, with South Korean arrivals up by 18.1% and those from Japan by 2.7%.

The 148,733 arrivals (+16.6%) from Europe, Africa and the Middle East in June took the region’s cumulative arrivals for January-June to 1,031,363, a year-on-year increase of 16.1%. Of the major individual markets in this region, the UK was the best performer in the first six months of the year, with 293,021 arrivals (+19.9%). The Middle East region also registered significant gain of 26.6% (88,065).

Arrivals from Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific in June stood at 65,311 (+13.6%), bringing the region’s half-yearly total to 353,733 (+11.2%). As for the Americas, arrivals reached 139,487 (+4.5%) in June, taking the January-June total to 839,945 (+6.8%).

Same-Day In-Town Visitors

In June 2007, 59.5% of all visitors stayed in the city for at least one night. This is 1.8 percentage points lower than in June 2006. The remaining 40.5% were classified as same-day in-town visitors, who either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival.

Some 60.5% of all visitors to Hong Kong from January to June were classified as overnight arrivals, compared with 62% in the same period last year. The remaining 39.5% were same-day in-town visitors.

Hotel Occupancy

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in June 2007 was 82%, two percentage points lower than in June 2006.

As always, the geographic location with the highest occupancy rate was Yau Ma Tei/Mong Kok, where hotels recorded a rate of 88% in June.

The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories in June was HK$1,072, 14% higher than that of last June.

The average hotel occupancy for January-June 2007 is 83%, three percentage points lower than in 2006. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories in January-June was HK$1,181, which is 12.9% higher than in the same months in 2006.

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