Hong Kong struggles to make tourists stay longer

Leisure travellers want more multi-city itineraries.

In the past, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has undertaken several measures such as waiving the Hotel Accommodation Tax since 1 July 2008, to attract visitors to extend their length of stay in Hong Kong.

According to a research report from JLL, however, the average length of stay continues to face downward pressure as corporate budgets remain tight.

Further, leisure travellers have been noted to also participate in more multicity itineraries (Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou and Taiwan).

Here's more from JLL:

Tourism. According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), the number of international visitor arrivals exceeded 54 million in 2013, an 11.7% increase over 2012. Growth in visitation to Hong Kong has been driven primarily by the outbound travel market from Mainland

China, which accounted for 75.0% or 40.7 million of total arrivals.

Demand. Corporate travel is one of the major demand generators in Hong Kong due to its status as one of the world’s leading financial and business centres. Hong Kong is regarded as an attractive location for regional headquarters, owing to its favourable business environment, transparent legal and regulatory conditions, highly competitive corporate tax levels, and

close proximity to Mainland China.

Supply. According to the HKTB, approximately 2,488 hotel rooms are expected to enter the supply in the second half of 2014. As at Q2 2014, approximately 843 hotel rooms have opened, most of which are independently or locally operated and relatively small in room count (below 150 rooms). If all projects materialise, hotel room supply will increase by 4.8% to 73,348 rooms.

Hong Kong is much more than a harbour city. The traveller weary of its crowded streets should not forget that this territory with its cloudy mountains and rocky islands is mostly a rural landscape.

The popularity with inbound visitors from the Mainland continues to drive Hong Kong’s hotel pipeline with recent government forecasts suggesting a necessary doubling of hotel room numbers in the coming decade.

Hong Kong has long been a gateway between East and West and the result is an intoxicating mix of Chinese and Western history, commerce, culture and cuisine.

The hospitality scene is equally dynamic from luxury hotels within skyscrapers to smaller midscale options and boutiques.