Tourist arrivals up 27.2% to 6.8 million in January

There were 5.54 million Mainland visitors.

The number of tourists visiting Hong Kong continued to rise 27.2% YoY to 6.78 million in January from 5.3 million in the previous year with Mainland tourism accounting for over three fourths of the monthly figures, according to data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

The number of Mainland tourists hit 5.54 million in January which represents a 34.8% increase. This was followed by the 4.7% rise in tourist visits from Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific to 74,124. Tourist numbers from Taiwan and the Americas grew by 2.2% to 159,680 and 0.9% to 150,897 respectively.

Also read: Tighter tour guides loom after visitors overwhelm Lantau

On the other hand, the number of tourists hailing from South and Southeast Asia fell 5.3% to 286,974 in January. The number of visitors from Europe, Africa & the Middle East as well as North Asia also fell to 181,904 and 273,680 respectively.

Total tourism expenditure associated to inbound tourism rose 13.5% YoY to $159b as of June 2018. This was mostly driven by destination consumption expenditure of $134b (+15.5%) and $93b expenditure (+14.2%) from overnight visitors.

Hotel room occupancy as of January 2019 remains flat at 92%.