Mainland China tourists drive visitor arrivals to 13.6% increase

Regional markets showed most significant y-o-y growth.

As at YTD May 2014, visitor arrivals continued to rise, recording a 13.6% increase on the same period last year, which was observed to be driven mainly by the Mainland Chinese market which registered 17.6% y-o-y growth.

According to a research report from JLL, notably, Japanese inbound visitation has improved by 3.4% y-o-y suggesting that ongoing political tensions between Mainland China and Japan are having a reduced impact on tourism.

Meanwhile, regional markets such as South Korea (+17.5%) and Singapore (+16.4%) showed the most significant y-o-y growth as at YTD May 2014.

Here’s more from JLL:

As at YTD March 2014, visitors arriving for Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) registered a 5.2% improvement y-o-y, indicating more events have taken place in the city.

Leisure visitors continued to reflect a significant increase of 18.4% y-o-y during the same period.

Hong Kong was voted as the Best City for Business Events for the third consecutive year in 2013, according to the 2013–2014 readers’ poll conducted by CEI Asia, once again reaffirming Hong Kong’s status as a world class business city.