VISITOR ARRIVALS MAKE A STEADY START TO 2001

Hong Kong’s tourism figures have made a steady start to the new year with 1,068,646* visitor arrivals recorded in January 2001, a 7.9% increase on the same month in 2000. This is in line with the forecast of 7.8% for 2001 overall, made earlier this month by the Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA), The Hon Mrs Selina Chow, JP.

In announcing the figures today (27 February), however, the HKTA cautioned that comparisons with January 2000 were difficult as the Lunar New Year holiday fell in February last year, but January this year. Generally the Lunar New Year period sees a decline in the number of business travellers, who tend to be higher spenders.

A more accurate assessment of progress will be possible when the February arrival figures are available and the combined January and February totals can be compared with the opening two months of 2000, the HKTA noted. This is especially true when analysing specific markets.

Boosted by a week-long Lunar New Year holiday, arrivals from Mainland China and Taiwan showed the highest growth in January. Visitors from the Mainland grew by 20.0% to 370,531, while those from Taiwan increased by 15.2% to 196,194. The Mainland’s crowded trains and premium fares at Lunar New Year are thought to be one reason why more Mainlanders are choosing short-haul destinations like Hong Kong for their long holiday.

Length of Stay

In total, 66.9% of January’s visitors stayed in Hong Kong for one night or longer, compared with 69.7% in January 2000. Visitors from Taiwan continue to be the shortest stayers, with only 28.8% staying overnight.

In the long-haul markets, the highest proportions of overnight visitors came from The Americas (85.3%) and Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific (82.6%).

Hotel Occupancy

Overall hotel occupancy for January was 74%. This is below the 80% recorded in January 2000, although the earlier Lunar New Year in 2001 is likely to have been an influencing factor as long holiday periods attract fewer business travellers, but more who are visiting friends and relatives. Another factor is that 1,127 additional rooms have now been added to the calculations, with the inclusion of the new Harbour Plaza North Point and Harbour Plaza Resort City hotels. In total, there has been a 2.2% increase in the daily average number of rooms available compared with a year ago, with a 6.5% increase at the medium tariff level.

January 2001 analysis by markets

In addition to Mainland China and Taiwan, other short-haul markets to show growth in January were India (9,123 arrivals, a 6.1% increase on January 2000), Singapore (25,379, +2.6%), Japan (105,985, +1.8%) and South Korea (33,541, +1.1%). There was a sharp decrease in Indonesian arrivals, however, due largely to an unusually high comparison base for January last year, while visitor numbers from the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand were all dampened by economic concerns.

In the long-haul markets, arrivals from the United Kingdom showed an encouraging 10.5% growth to 26,389. Other good performers were New Zealand (4,329, +7.7%, Canada (20,114, +6.2%) and the United States (67,809, +1.9%). Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year celebrations were strongly promoted in all these markets, while special promotions targeting the ethnic Chinese communities were also staged in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Arrivals from Italy, France and Germany all fell, however, affected by Hong Kong’s lower business traffic over the Lunar New Year period and the current weakness of the euro.





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* Including arrivals of non-Macau residents from Macau