Tourist arrivals up 5.2% to 5.57 million in April

Mainland China visitors accounted for three-fourths of visitor arrivals.

The number of tourists visiting Hong Kong continued to rise 5.2% YoY to 5.57 million in April from 5.3 million in 2018, data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board revealed. YTD, visitor arrivals have reached over 23.8 million.

Mainland tourism edged up 5.3% to hit 4.27 million, accounting for over three-fourths of the monthly figures. However, the increase was substantially lower compared to the 34.8% increase recorded in January.

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This growth was followed by a 9% increase in tourist visits from Australia, New Zealand, and South Pacific to 77,255 whilst tourist visits from South and Southeast Asia rose 4% to 326,098. Meanwhile, arrivals from North Asia witnessed a 3.3% increase to 203,110. Tourist arrivals from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East also grew 1.4% to 238,901, whilst footfall from the Americas edged up 0.7% to 138,606. However, visitor numbers from Taiwan fell 8.6% to 157,816 from the previous 172,597.

Hotel room occupancy also decreased 3%.

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In 2018, total tourism expenditure associated to inbound tourism rose 10.3% YoY to $328b. The most influential factors were the $51.75b expenditure (+2.8%) from passenger international transportation visitors and the destination consumption expenditure of $276b (+11.9%).