Hong Kong welcomed 2,250,718 tourists in September, up 2.5% on the same month last year. The Tourism Board said today the rise was mainly driven by visitors from the Mainland and seasonal growth from South and Southeast Asia.

Mainland visitors rose 6.1% due to improved travel sentiments. Arrivals from South and Southeast Asia grew 18%, boosted by the Eid al-Fitr holidays in various markets. Indonesia showed remarkable growth of 87.6% while Singapore rose by 17% and India increased 14.9%, thanks to its expanding flight capacity.

Taiwan and North Asia continued their negative trend, with the weak won in South Korea hindering outbound travel.

Falls continued to narrow in long-haul markets, with Europe, Africa and the Middle East seeing 2.6% growth. The increase was caused by the lower base of arrivals last year.

Arrivals from the first nine months this year totalled 21,159,973, down 2.8% on the same period last year.

With the exception of the Mainland, all market regions showed negative growth during the first nine months, but their shortfall has further narrowed.

About 54.7% of all visitors in September stayed in Hong Kong for at least one night, 1.6% lower than the same month last year.

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels in September was 76%, down 3% on last year. The locations with the highest occupancy were Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok, where hotels recorded an average occupancy rate of 83%. The average room rate was $1,042, down 15.1% on last year.