Visitor arrivals surge 16.2% to 30.4m in 2011

As arrivals from the Mainland jumped 23.6% to exceed 20m in the first nine months of the year.

Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong reached 30,423,421 in the first three quarters of 2011, 16.2% higher than the same period last year, the Tourism Board has announced.

In September alone, arrivals climbed 16.8% year-on-year, to 3,187,091.

Arrivals from the Mainland rose 23.6% to exceed 20 million during the first nine months of the year. Among these, 65.1% or around 13.27 million came under the individual visit scheme, representing a 29.2% year-on-year increase.

In September alone, Mainland arrivals rose 28.8% to surpass 2 million, as many Mainland visitors, especially those from South China, came to celebrate the mid-autumn festival.

Arrivals from the Southeast Asian market also grew steadily in the first three quarters, with approximately 2.26 million arrivals recorded, 9.7% more than the same period of 2010. Total arrivals from North Asia registered an increase of 3.2% to nearly 1.7 million.

Overnight arrivals from Taiwan rose 9.5% to over 600,000, or 36.8% of all Taiwanese arrivals in the period, and up 8.2% in September.

Cumulative arrivals from the long-haul markets were 2% higher year-on-year.

In September, overnight visitor arrivals rose 12.9% year-on-year to about 1.63 million, or 51.2% of all arrivals to Hong Kong. Same-day arrivals also rose 21.3% to exceed 1.55 million.

In the first nine months of the year, overnight arrivals totalled 16.29 million, representing a 10.8% increase or 53.6% of all visitor arrivals. Same-day arrivals surpassed 14.12 million, 23.2% more than the previous year.