Hong Kong welcomed 1,990,705 visitor arrivals in July - the highest figure ever recorded in a single month, the Hong Kong Tourism Board says.
That was nearly 200,000 more than the previous highest monthly total of 1,792,698 achieved in December 2003, and over 600,000 more than the previous best July figure recorded in 2002.
The figure represents 54.1％ growth over the same month last year, when Hong Kong was starting to recover from SARS, and 45.4% growth on the July 2002 performance.
For the first seven months of 2004, total arrivals stand at 12,003,323 - 65.8％ ahead of the same period in 2003 and 35.3％ ahead of the 2002 figure.
Arrivals from the Mainland were 67.5% ahead of the July 2003 figure at 1,160,530, another new record, while the Americas (+87.3%), Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific (+85.3%) also showed healthy growth over the same period, and Europe, Africa & the Middle East (+65.6%) came close.
HK Shopping Festival a boost for visitor arrivals
The Board's Executive Director Clara Chong noted that the Hong Kong Shopping Festival was proving effective in luring more visitors and nearly 2.27 million arrivals had been recorded during the festival period from June 26 to end July.
"As the whole of August is still to be added in, we can be confident of exceeding our 3.7 million arrivals target for the full festival period," she said.
"With more than 6,500 shops and restaurants participating citywide, and a strong promotional emphasis being put on late-night shopping, dining and entertainment, the festival is not only attracting more visitors to come, but is also stimulating their spending and enjoyment," she added.
Ms Chong also said the performance from the long-haul markets was especially encouraging.
"While Mainland China continues to be the main driver of growth, all three long-haul markets are now consistently well ahead of their 2002 levels," she said.
Same-day in-town visitors drop
In July, 63.4% of all visitors stayed for one night or longer, a significant improvement on the 59.2% in July 2003.
The remaining 36.6% were classified as "same-day in-town" visitors, departing for another destination on the same day as their arrival.
For the first seven months of 2004, 62.5% of all visitors have stayed for one night or more, compared with 60.7% for the same period in 2003.
Hotel occupancy rate tops 90％
Average occupancy rate across all categories of hotels and tourist guest houses in July was 92%, which is the highest July figure since 1988 and it significantly improves on the 71％ recorded in July last year, when the city's tourism industry was still recovering from the SARS crisis, and 82％ in July 2002.
The average achieved hotel room rate was $704, a 26.1％ improvement on the July 2003 figure.
For the first seven months of 2004, the average occupancy rate stood at 86%, compared with 57% for the same period in 2003 and 82% in 2002. The average achieved hotel room rate was $753, a notable improvement on the $641 recorded for this period in 2003 and $685 in 2002.
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