Visitor arrivals up 4.9 pct in June

Total visitors to the city reached 2.36 million for the month of June, representing a 4.9 per cent increase year-on-year, according to the latest data released by the Statistic and Census Services (DSEC) on Friday.
In the first half of the year the city’s overall visitor arrivals increased to 14.76 million, up by 0.1 per cent year-on-year. Despite the year-on-year increases the data still reveals a 4.8 per cent decrease in overall visitation compared to the previous month.
Overnight visitors increased by 13.9 per cent to 1.22 million in June, accounting for 52 per cent of the total visitors and the average stay of overnight visitors was 2.2 days. Despite the uptick in visit duration – the number of same-day visitors fell by 3.3 per cent to 1.13 million, with an average stay of 0.2 day, according to the DSEC data.
The average length of stay for visitors to the city was 1.2 days, remaining stable compared to previous year, DSEC shows.

Increasing non-Chinese tourists
Visitor numbers from Mainland China reached 1.5 million in June, indicating a 5.7 per cent increase compared with June of 2015. Travellers under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) increased by 3.4 per cent to 665,919 for the month while overnight Mainland Chinese visitors totalled 776,482 during the period – a 17.2 per cent increase year-on-year. The majority of tourists from Mainland China – amounting to 657,858 – originated in the Guangdong Province. The second highest came from the Hunan Province, totalling 67,254.
June figures also show that visits from Korea and Taiwan showed increases of 49.5 per cent and 19.1 per cent respectively, reaching 46,957 and 95,615. However, those from Hong Kong declined to 511,692 – a drop of 2.3 per cent, according to the DSEC data.
Long haul visits from Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada recorded an increase year-on-year by 6.7 per cent, 5.5 per cent, 3.3 per cent and 3 per cent respectively.