Hotel developers' request for the expedition of planning application approvals will be studied by the Government.

This was the message from Secretary for Economic Development & Labour Stephen Ip today after meeting with developers, who are keen to go ahead with developments because they are optimistic more tourists will come to Hong Kong in the years ahead.

"We have heard the view of the developers and we will follow up with the departments concerned," Mr Ip said.

According to developers' estimates, about 12,000 additional rooms will be available in the next two years.

Mr Ip said if all the planning applications are approved and materialise, there will be another 20,000 hotel rooms coming on-stream soon.

"Altogether we may be talking about over 30,000 additional rooms in the next five years," Mr Ip said.

Hong Kong now has over 42,000 hotel rooms, which is not a small number, he said, adding that it is important for tourists to secure accommodation before they arrive.