Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals for April 2008

Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in April 2008 reached 2,419,911, 11.2% more than in April 2007. This brings cumulative arrivals for the first four months of 2008 to 9,695,432, 10.3% ahead of the same period last year.

In April 2008, Mainland China was the best performing of all long and short-haul market regions, with arrivals growing by 19.8% to 1,305,002. Positive growth was also recorded in other market regions, except Taiwan, which together took up 46.1% of the total monthly arrivals. Visitor arrivals from different market regions in April 2008 are:

• Mainland China: 1,305,002 (+19.8%)
• North Asia: 163,433 (+7.3%)
• Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific: 69,874 (+6.6%)
• South and Southeast Asia: 252,371 (+4.2%)
• The Americas: 170,594 (+2.6%)
• Europe, Africa and the Middle East: 225,152 (+1.6%)
• Taiwan: 189,671 (-1%)

Among various individual source markets, double-digit growth was recorded in the high-potential market of South Korea (+17.9%), as well as in such emerging market of Russia (+11.1%).

Out of the total Mainland arrivals in April 2008, 671,769 or 51.5% arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme, 26.6% more than in April 2007. Cumulatively, there were 3,042,003 arrivals under the Individual Visit Scheme in the first four months of 2008, 14.7% more than for the same period in 2007.

Overnight vs Same-Day In-Town Visitors

Some 56.4% of all visitors to Hong Kong in April stayed in the city for at least one night, 2.6 percentage points lower than for the same month last year. The remaining 43.6% 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, 46.9% of visitors left Hong Kong on the same day of arrival in April 2008, an increase of more than four percentage points over April 2007，reflecting the trend for same-day consumption visits by Individual Visit Scheme travellers. Together Mainland China and Taiwan contributed 71.2% of the same-day arrivals in April 2008.

April 2008 Hotel Occupancy

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in April 2008 was 85%, three percentage points higher than in April 2007. The geographic location with the highest occupancy was, for the first time in years, Wan Chai / Causeway Bay, where hotels recorded occupancy rate of 87%. Normally Yau Ma Tei / Mong Kok records the highest occupancy. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,424, 1% higher than in April 2007.

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