Tourist arrivals grew to 2,127,254 in April, up 9.5% on the same month last year, the Tourism Board says. The growth was led by 1,109,401 arrivals from the Mainland, 12.4% more than the same month last year.

Growth in the first four months brought total arrivals to more than 8.3 million, up 12.7% on last year. Of the April arrivals, 59.7% were classified as overnight visitors while the remaining 40.3% were same-day arrivals.

The board said the growth in Mainland arrivals reflected Hong Kong's enduring appeal in this market as a destination both for long and short vacation travel and short-stay consumption visits.

Of the 1.1 million Mainland arrivials, 476,000, or 43%, travelled to Hong Kong under the Individual Visit Scheme, 18.3% more than last year.

The majority of Hong Kong's regional markets also showed increases. The best-performing regional markets were Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific, with 15.3% growth, and South & Southeast Asia, from which visitor numbers grew 9%.

Some 59.7% of all visitors to Hong Kong in April stayed in the city for at least one night, compared with 59.8% in the same month last year. The remaining 40.3% same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival.

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels and tourist guesthouses in April was 86%, identical to the 2005 figure.