Hong Kong saw an 11.2% year-on-year rise in visitors in March, to 2.4 million, bringing the cumulative arrivals for this year's first quarter to 7.28 million, 10% ahead of the same period last year, the Tourism Board says.

The Mainland was the best performing of all long- and short-haul market regions, with arrivals growing 16.8% to 1.27 million.

Arrivals from non-Mainland markets took up 47.2% of the total monthly arrivals. In particular, double-digit growth was recorded in the high-potential market of South Korea (up 13.3%), as well as in such emerging markets as the Middle East (up15.7%), Russia (27%) and India (13.8%).

Out of the total Mainland arrivals in March, 53.6% arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme, 23.1% higher than last March. There were 2.37 million arrivals under the scheme in this year's first quarter, up 11.7% from a year earlier. 

About 57.5% of all visitors to Hong Kong in March stayed in the city for at least one night, 2.4 percentage points lower than a year earlier. Taiwan continued to have the highest percentage (74.1%) of same-day arrivals, as many visitors travelled en route to the Mainland or other destinations.

Room rates rise

As for the Mainland, 47.2% of visitors left Hong Kong on the same day of arrival in March, up almost 4 percentage points on last March, as Mainland visitors capitalise on the convenience offered by the Individual Visit Scheme to make same-day consumption visits to Hong Kong. Together the Mainland and Taiwan contributed 70.7% of the same-day arrivals in March.

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in March was 86%, 3 percentage points lower than last March. The geographic location with the highest occupancy was Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, where hotels recorded occupancy rate of 90%. The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories was $1,362, 3.6% higher than last March.