Exceptional performance was recorded in long-haul markets--the United States, a key volume provider with 129,451 visitors for the month, registered growth of 11.5% over October 2006. Cumulative arrivals from the U.S. since January totaled 1,003,899 at the end of October, a 4.9% increase over the same period in 2006. Other long haul markets showing remarkable growth are Canada (+26.8%), New Zealand (+21.8%) and France (+11.9%). 

The increase in arrivals was largely driven by continued robust performance of Mainland China and the long-haul market regions, all of which recorded double-digit gain, as shown below. 

• Mainland China: 1,359,194 (+25.5%) 
• Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific: 76,162 (+17.1%) 
• Europe, Africa & the Middle East: 248,817 (+11.0%) 
• The Americas: 195,126 (+15.0%) 
• North Asia: 169,995 (+5.2%) 
• South & Southeast Asia: 284,028 (+9.5%) 
• Taiwan: 184,984 (+0.5%) 

Highlights of the October 2007 Arrivals 

October 2007 Overall Arrival Statistics 

• Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong totalled 2,568,040 in October, a year-on-year increase of 17.0%. This brought cumulative arrivals for January to October to 22,931,804, a growth of 10.4% compared with the same period in 2006. 

• Arrivals from Mainland China grew by 25.5% to 1,359,194 in October, bringing the cumulative January-October arrivals to 12,671,343, 12.3% ahead of the same period last year. Of the Mainland arrivals in October, 758,380 or 55.8% travelled under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), a year-on-year increase of 40.5%. This took the cumulative IVS arrivals in January-October 2007 to more than 7.04 million, which represents 55.6% of visitors from the Mainland and growth of 27.5%. 

• The 184,984 visitor arrivals from Taiwan represented a 0.5% increase over 2006, taking the total for the first 10 months of the year to almost 1.86 million, a 2.0% increase. 

• Arrivals from South & Southeast Asia grew by 9.5% to 284,028 in October. Indonesia provided the greatest number of visitors (70,513, +16.9%), while the Philippines enjoyed the highest growth rate at 24.9%. The region�s January-October total stood at 2,248,882, an increase of 7.1%. 

• South Korea continued to provide the impetus to arrivals growth from North Asia, which showed a 5.2% year-on-year increase in October to 169,995. Of these, 102,287 (+2.1%) were from Japan, while 67,708 (+10.2%) came from South Korea. Cumulative January-October arrivals stood at 1,773,130, 8.3% more than in 2006, with arrivals from Japan up by 1.5% and those from South Korea by 20.8%. 

• Arrivals from Europe, Africa and the Middle East reached 248,817 in October, a year-on-year increase of 11.0%. Among the individual markets in this region, the UK (62,480, +12.5%) and France (25,804, +11.9%) were again the star performers. 

• Cumulative January-October arrivals from this region reached 1,798,431, 14.9% higher than in the same period in 2006. 

• Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific delivered 76,162 arrivals, 17.1% more than that of last October. Both Australia (64,277 +16.4%) and New Zealand (11,296 +21.8%) registered double-digit increases. The cumulative 10-month arrivals for the region reached 623,987, 13.5% ahead of the same period of 2006. 

• The Americas also achieved robust growth in October, with arrivals increasing by 15.0% to 195,126. Canada sustained its strong growth at 26.8%, while arrivals from the US also increased by 11.5%. This took the overall arrivals from the region in January-October 2007 to 1,448,550, 8.1% more than in the same period in 2006. 

October 2007 Same-Day In-Town Visitors 

• Some 59.1% of all visitors to Hong Kong in October stayed in the city for at least one night, 2.9 percentage points lower than for the same month last year. The remaining 40.9% same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival. 

• Between January and October 2007, 60.9% of all visitors stayed one night or more, 1.8 percentage points lower than for the same period in 2006. 

• The average occupancy across all categories of hotels in October was 89%, four percentage points higher than in October 2006. 

• The geographic locations with the highest occupancies in October were Yau Ma Tei / Mong Kok (northern end of Nathan Road), where hotels recorded rates of 91%. 

• The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories for the month was HK$1,533, 10.6% higher than in October 2006. 

• The average occupancy across all categories of hotels for January-October 2007 was 85%, one percentage point lower than in the same period in 2006. The average achieved room rate across all hotel categories was HK$1,194, 12.1% higher than in the first 10 months of 2006. 

Hong Kong Tourism Board
Lillibeth Bishop, 310-824-7265
[email protected]