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Key Achievements in 2008
With its unique blend of East and West, old and new, city and natural landscape, Hong Kong has become one of Asia's most popular tourist destinations. Riding on the good performance of 2007, Hong Kong's tourism industry recorded a strong 8.9% growth in visitor arrivals during the first half of 2008, compared to the same period in the previous year. The surge however slowed in September following the onset of the global financial crisis.
By year end, visitor numbers (including overnight and same-day visitors) totalled 29.5 million, a rather modest 4.7% increase compared to 2007. Of the 29.5 million arrivals, 58.7% (i.e. 17.32 million) were overnight visitors, representing a 1.0% year-on-year growth.
The table below summarises Hong Kong's tourism performance in 2008 -
|
2008 |
2008 vs. 2007 |
| Total Visitor Arrivals |
29,506,616 |
+4.7% |
| - Overnight visitors |
17,319,460 |
+1.0% |
| - Same-day visitors |
12,187,156 |
+10.6% |
| Average length of stay of overnight visitors |
3.3 nights |
- |
| Overnight visitor per capita spending1 |
HK$5,439
|
+6.2% |
| Expenditure associated with inbound tourism |
HK$159.0 billion |
+11.7% |
| Average hotel occupancy rate |
85% |
-1% |
| Average achieved hotel room rate |
HK$1,222 |
+0.6% |
1The calculation excludes same-day in-town arrivals.
Mainland China continued to be the largest visitor source, with total arrivals (including overnight and same-day visitors) reaching 16.9 million, representing an 8.9% increase over 2007. Same-day consumption travels had become more prevalent and we received 7.5 million day-trippers from the Mainland during the year.
High fuel cost in the first half of the year, followed by the global financial crisis in the second half of the year, resulted in an overall 4.0% drop in long-haul arrivals2, especially from the United States of America (-6.9%), United Kingdom (-6.2%) and Canada (-4.1%).
Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific together registered a modest 0.8% growth3, while some emerging markets such as India (+10.4%) and Russia (+13.1%) continued to perform well.
To enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong as a tourist destination, the Government announced the following measures in our 2008/09 Budget -
- To waive the hotel accommodation tax starting from 1 July 2008;
- To exempt the duty on wine and alcoholic beverages (except spirits);
- To earmark an additional HK$150 million for promotion and marketing initiatives to attract more international conventions and exhibitions to Hong Kong over the next five years; and
- To finance development of a world class terminal at the old Kai Tak airport site with the first berth expected to be operational in 2013.
The "Michelin Guide Hong Kong and Macao 2009" , published in Chinese and English in December 2008, was the first bilingual Michelin Guide. As Asia's second and China's first Michelin city, Hong Kong has long been famous for its international cuisine and fine dining. The publication of the Michelin Guide further reaffirms the city's reputation as a capital of gastronomic delights.
2Long-haul markets refer to the Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific countries, and exclude Asian countries.
3The rate of growth or decline of individual market segments was derived by counting both overnight and same-day visitors of the segments.
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