Hong Kong records 1,951,991 Visitor Arrivals in November 2004

Hong Kong’s tourism industry notched up another strong performance in November 2004 with a total of 1,951,991 arrivals. This is easily the best November result on record, topping the 1.69 million arrivals in November 2003 by more than 260,000, or 15.8%.

In total, Hong Kong welcomed 19,725,503 arrivals in the first 11 months of the year, a 43.5% increase on the same period in 2003 and 32.4% growth on the 2002 figure. Since then, the 20 million landmark has already been reached when Dutch visitor Ms Barbara Wallerbosch arrived at Hong Kong International Airport from Amsterdam on Sunday 5 December. It now looks certain that total arrivals for 2004 will surpass the Hong Kong Tourism Board's (HKTB) upgraded target of 21.36 million.

With one month still to go, a number of important source markets have already passed their best ever full-year performances, including South Korea, Australia, India and South Africa. Arrivals from the United States and New Zealand are also on track to reach all-time records by the end of December.

 HKTB Executive Director Clara Chong said that December arrivals looked likely to be even higher than those of November, with the Board’s Hong Kong WinterFest mega-event giving a valuable boost to leisure traffic. “This is the third year that we’ve organised WinterFest and the response from both visitors and residents has grown stronger each year,” she said.

“Looking ahead to early 2005, though, we have to face the possibility that the terrible after-effects of the Indonesian earthquake could have some short- and medium-term impact on continued arrivals growth from the long-haul markets, especially Europe. Many of the resorts affected are popular partner destinations of Hong Kong and we’re deeply saddened by the heavy loss of life there,” Ms Chong said. “There will understandably be some immediate postponements of vacations in the region, but it’s too early to assess the longer-term implications. Through our worldwide offices and trade partner network, we’re now closely monitoring customer feedback.

“Events like this emphasise that however successful the tourism industry has been, one can never become complacent,” she added.

Analysis by Markets, November and January–November 2004

All market regions except Taiwan showed double-digit growth over their November 2003 performance, notably South & Southeast Asia (225,261 arrivals, +37.6%), Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific (44,217, +36.7%); North Asia (165,186,+29.2%); The Americas (136,825, +27.3%); and Europe, Africa & the Middle East (135,855, +18.9%).

Arrivals from Mainland China grew 11.9%, passing the million mark for the fourth time in five months to reach 1,040,982. This included 377,135 arrivals under the Individual Visit Scheme, 36.2% of the total. In the first 11 months of 2004, Hong Kong has now welcomed 11,099,849 Mainland arrivals, 49.1% more than for the same period in 2003. Of these, 3.78 million have arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme, 34.0% of the total.

Taiwan remains the second largest source market with 165,713 November arrivals. This is a modest 3.8% down on the November 2003 figure and is the best performance since June, as increased leisure traffic is now coming close to offsetting the fall seen in business travel from Taiwan to the Mainland via Hong Kong this year, due to the growth of direct ferry services that allow onward travel from Hong Kong International Airport to Pearl River Delta destinations or vice versa without passing through Hong Kong immigration. Total arrivals from Taiwan in the first 11 months now stand at 1,891,268, 12.7% ahead of the same period in 2003.

South & Southeast Asia was the next largest market in November, contributing 225,261 arrivals, a 37.6% year-on-year increase. Arrivals from both Malaysia (45,952, +60.5%) and Singapore (52,284, +55.0%) were boosted by the long Deepavali and Hari Raya Pusa holiday in mid-November, as well by attractive travel packages on offer. Similarly, arrivals from Indonesia (45,212, +49.5%) benefited from the Mubarak Celebration holiday, while strongly-promoted new air routes from Thailand (23,957, +30.9%) to Shenzhen and Macau brought increased traffic, as Hong Kong is included in the airlines’ promotions and packages. In the first 11 months of 2004, 1,829,696 arrivals have now been recorded from this market region, growth of 56.4% on 2003, making it almost certain that its full-year performance will surpass the previous best of 1.91 million recorded in 2002.

Arrivals from North Asia increased by 29.2% to 165,186, with both Japan (109,364 +26.9%) and South Korea (55,822, +33.9%) showing healthy growth. High consumer awareness of Hong Kong following the HKTB’s sustained promotional campaigns has helped total arrivals from South Korea in the first 11 months reach 488,052, which already breaks the previous full-year record for this market, 472,962, dating back to 1996. Across the whole market region, total January to November arrivals stand at 1,490,670, a 34.9% increase on the same period in 2003.

In the long-haul markets, The Americas regained its standing as the leading market region with 136,825 November arrivals, growth of 27.3%. Arrivals from the United States grew 26.0% to 102,524, boosted by an integrated autumn promotional campaign and several major group bookings. Arrivals from Canada increased even more, by 45.5% to 30,067, helped by the strong Canadian dollar. Total arrivals from this region up to November are now 1,278,499 (+54.3%), keeping them on track to top their record full-year performance of 1.35 million in 2002. Individually, the United States should also top its 2002 record of 1.00 million arrivals.

Europe, Africa & the Middle East continues to run neck-and-neck with The Americas, recording 135,855 arrivals (+18.9%) in November and 1,271,914 (+49.3%) for the year to date. The United Kingdom (44,267, +24.5%) performed especially well, with air capacity increased by three new flights a week on the busy London–Hong Kong route from 4 November. A recent “Supercity Hong Kong” campaign backed with special travel offers is paying dividends in Germany (18,568, +21.1%), while several new tour operators in France (14,395, +20.3%) are now offering Hong Kong packages in support of the Year of France in China promotion. South Africa, though a smaller market, saw 65.0% growth to 5,410 arrivals and has already totalled 48,734 in the first 11 months, surpassing its previous full-year best of 34,662 set as long ago as 1994.

The Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific region is also setting new records. Its 44,217 arrivals (+36.7%) in November takes the year-to-date total to 432,558 (+59.3%), which already tops the previous highest full-year total of 425,322 set in 1996. Individually, arrivals from Australia have likewise set a historic high already, reaching 364,860 (+62.0%) from January to November, well ahead of the record 352,409 recorded in the whole of 2000. The recent addition of seven new flights a week from Sydney should help this market see further growth in the coming months. New Zealand is also likely to reach its best-ever figures by the end of the year.

Same-Day In-Town Visitors

In November, 62.8% of all visitors stayed one night or longer, compared with 64.0% in November 2003. The remaining 37.2% were classified as “same-day in-town” visitors, departing for another destination on the same day as arrival.

Most long-haul visitors stay one night or more, including 79.1% of November arrivals from both The Americas and Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific, and 76.0% from Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Encouragingly, 76.2% of arrivals from South & Southeast Asia were also classified at overnight visitors in November. On other hand, only 25.2% of Taiwan visitors stayed overnight, as many travellers from this market are in transit to/from Mainland China or other regional destinations.

For the first 11 months of 2004, 62.6% of all visitors have stayed for one night or more, compared with only 61.9% for the same period in 2003.

Hotel Occupancy

Hotel occupancy hit a 16-year high in November, with the average occupancy rate of 96% across all categories of hotels and tourist guest houses being the highest recorded in any month since October 1988. The highest tariff hotels averaged 94% while those in the second and third tiers reached 97%. Geographically, visitors’ most favoured location was Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, where hotels recorded a remarkable 98% occupancy rate.

The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories and districts was HK$919, nearly 23% improvement on the November 2003 figure. Cumulatively for the first 11 months of 2004, average occupancy now stands at 87%, compared with only 68% for the same period in 2003 and 84% in 2002. The average achieved hotel room rate is HK$801, a significant improvement on the HK$672 recorded for this period in 2003 and HK$712 in 2002.

See also: Hong Kong Visitor Arrivals in October 2004 pass 2 Million mark