Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals for February 2009

Hong Kong's visitor arrivals in February 2009 reached 2,162,325, 8.1% less than in February 2008. This brings cumulative arrivals for the first two months of 2009 to 4,958,424, 1.8% ahead of the same period last year.

Almost all major market regions registered a decline in arrivals in February 2009, resulting in a drop in total arrivals for the month. The shortfall was attributed to the slowdown in travel among Mainland visitors, following the Lunar New Year holidays at the end of January 2009.

Another factor was that arrivals from long-haul and selected short-haul market regions continued to drop as a result of the global financial downturn.

Visitor arrivals from different market regions in February 2009:

- Mainland China: 1,345,291 (-6.7%)
- Taiwan: 147,184 (-17.3%)
- North Asia: 163,234 (-14.4%)
- Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific: 42,489 (-10.8%)
- The Americas: 101,017 (-11.4%)
- Europe, Africa and the Middle East: 136,620 (-11.7%)

Out of the total Mainland arrivals in February 2009, 773,145 or 57.5% arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme, 9.6% less than the same period last year.

Overnight Vs Same-Day In-Town Visitors

Overall, some 58.3% of all visitors to Hong Kong in February stayed in the city for at least one night, 0.7 percentage point lower than for the same month last year. The remaining 41.7% same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival.

February 2009 Hotel Occupancy

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in February 2009 was 76%, four percentage points lower than in February 2008.

The geographic locations with the highest occupancy were Yau Ma Tei/Mong Kok, where hotels recorded average occupancy rate of 81%.

The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,014, 10.4% lower than in February 2008.

See also Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals for January 2009.

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