HK reserves arrivals trend in August
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The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced today (29September) that visitor arrivals to Hong Kongreached 2,834,178 in August 2009.
August 2009 Visitor Arrivals
Reversing the downward trend in the previous three months,visitor arrivals in August increased by 5.8% year-on-year. The increase owed tothe lower base of arrivals during the Olympics in August 2008, when visits bylong-haul travellers were impacted by the Mainland visa policy adjustment,while many from the Mainland stayed home for the Olympic Games.
In August 2009, all long-haul market regions achievedpositive gain, when compared with the substantial shortfall in the equivalentperiod last year. These included The Americas and Europe, Africa and the Middle East, which registered increase of 9.7% and 10.4%respectively.
As for the short-haul regions, North Asia continued to beaffected by the decrease in outbound travel in South Korea. Nevertheless, the gaphas narrowed from -34.1% in May 2009 to -10.1% in August 2009. Similarly, Taiwancontinued the downward trend owing to the impact of cross-strait direct links.The shortfall has, however, narrowed to a single-digit 3.7%. On the other hand,Mainland Chinarecorded year-on-year increase of 9.2%, as consumers’ sentiment to travelimproved.
Cumulative Arrivals for January-August 2009
From January to August 2009, total visitor arrivals reached18,909,255, 3.4% lower than the same period last year. With the exception ofMainland China,which achieved positive gain of 2.6% in its arrivals year-to-date, all otherlong- and short-haul markets continued to show negative growth. For thelong-haul regions, the cumulative arrivals decreased by 10.1% year-on-year to2,699,633. As for the short-haul regions (excluding Mainland China and Macau),arrivals totalled 4,245,244, a shortfall of 12.7% over the same period of lastyear.
Overnight vs. Same-Day, in-Town Visitors
Overall, some 59.3% of all visitors to Hong Kong in August stayed in the city for at least one night, 1.1percentage points lower than in the same month last year. The remaining 40.7%same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destinationon the same day they arrived.
From January to August 2009, close to 10.85 million or 57.4%of total arrivals stayed in the city for at least one night, compared with58.7% during the same period last year. The remaining 8.06 million (42.6%) wereclassified as same-day in-town visitors.
Hotel Occupancy
Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in August2009 was 82%, three percentage points lower than in August 2008. The geographiclocations with the highest occupancy were Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, where hotelsrecorded an average occupancy rate of 87%. The average achieved hotel room rateacross all hotel categories was HK$882, 20.3% lower than in August 2008.
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