Visitor Arrival Statistics

According to the definition of World Tourism Organization (WTO),

Visitor refers "Any person travelling to a place other than that of his/her usual environment for less than 12 months and whose main purpose of visit is other than the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited".

For the purpose of tourism statistics, visitors are classified as:

(a) International Visitors

(i) Tourists (overnight visitors): visitors who stay at least one night in a collective or private accommodation in the country visited

(ii) Same-day visitors: visitors who do not spend the night in a collective or private accommodation in the country visited. These same-day visitors are similar to that for tourism, that is, " a break away from the usual environment ". Business trips and other non-leisure and holiday trips of a non-routine nature are included in the concept of same-day visits. This also includes:

· Cruise passengers who arrive in a country on a cruise ship and return to the ship each night to sleep on board even though the ship remains in port for several days. Also included, by extension, owners or passengers of yachts and passengers on a group tour accommodated in a train;

· Crew members who do not spend the night in the country of destination; this group also includes crews of warships on a courtesy visit.

(b) Domestic visitors (Not applicable to Hong Kong)

(i) Tourist (overnight visitors)

(ii) Same-day visitors

The following categories of travellers are NOT included in international visitor arrivals and departures:

(a) Person entering or leaving a country as migrants, including dependants accompanying or joining them;

(b) Person, known as border workers, residing near the border in one country and working in another;

(c) Diplomats, consular officers and members of the armed forces when travelling from their country of origin to the country of their assignment or vice versa, including household servants and dependants accompanying or joining them;

(d) Persons travelling as refugees or nomads;

(e) Persons in transit who do not formally enter the country through passport control, such as air transit passengers who remain for a short period in a designated area of the air terminal or ship passengers who are not permitted to disembark. This category includes passengers transferred directly between airports or other terminals. Other passengers in transit through a country are classified as visitors.

Arrivals

All data used in WTO reports refer to arrivals and NOT to the actual number of people travelling. One person visiting the same country several times during the year is counted each time as a new arrival. Likewise, the same person visiting several countries during the same trip is counted each time as a new arrival.


Source: Recommendations on Tourism Statistics, World Tourism Organization

and United Nations, Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis Statistical Division