Welcome ashore: Over 2.06 million visitors came to Hong Kong in November, up 5.6% over a year earlier.

Over 2.06 million visitors came to Hong Kong in November, up 5.6% on a year earlier, while the arrivals for the first 11 months of 2005 were over 21 million, 7.3% more than in the previous year, the Tourism Board says.

Long-haul markets led the arrivals growth, with the number of visitors from Europe, Africa and the Middle East rising 20.3% to 163,392, followed by Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific (14.8%, 50,746 visitors), the US (10.9%, 151,685 visitors) and South and Southeast Asia (10.5%, 249,004 visitors).

Modest growth was seen from other regions, with the Mainland increasing 2.8% to 1.07 million visitors, North Asia 1.8% to 168,164 visitors, and Taiwan 0.6% to 166,635 visitors.

The cumulative total of Mainland visitors coming to Hong Kong from January to November was near 11.4 million, representing a 2.4% year-on-year increase.

Individual Visit Scheme arrivals in November reached 444,380, 41.5% of all Mainland visitors and 17.8% more than in the same period last year. The cumulative total for January-November stood at more than 5.01 million, 44.1% of all arrivals from the Mainland and a 32.7% rise over 2004.

Philippines best-performing short-haul market 

Individual long-haul markets registering double-digit growth were Germany (14.6%), Australia (14.3%), France (12.1%), and Canada (10.8%), while the best-performing short-haul markets were the Philippines (18.3%) and Singapore (14.7%).

Tourism Board Executive Director Clara Chong expects the encouraging performances will be sustained until the end of the year.

"Although the overall outlook for global and regional tourism remains largely positive, we do envisage some short-term impact on December arrivals from the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial Conference. We are also continuing to closely track the possible effects on arrivals of factors such as avian flu and the rising cost of aviation fuel. In spite of these factors, we are nonetheless confident of reaching our targeted 23 million by the end of the year."

Some 63.9% of all visitors in November stayed in the city for at least one night, compared with 62.8% in the same month last year. Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific had the highest percentage of overnight arrivals, at 78.9%.

For January-November, 63.1% of all visitors stayed for one night or more, half a percentage point higher than in the first 11 months of 2004.

Hotel occupancy at 95% 

Hotel occupancy in November was 95%, one percentage point lower than last year's figure. This partially reflects the 5.6% increase in Hong Kong's room supply during the past 12 months. The average achieved hotel room rate was $847, 11% higher than in November 2004.

Visitors' most favoured geographic locations in November were Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, where hotels recorded an occupancy rate of 98%.    

The average hotel occupancy for the January to November period was 85%, two percentage points lower than last year. The average achieved hotel room rate was $765, 13.8% higher than the same period in 2004.