HONG KONG. Visitor arrivals in June fell -38.2% to 725,236, according to the latest figures released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB).
However, the decline in June was less steep than the -67.9% plunge in May, indicating that Hong Kong’s tourism industry is on the road to recovery. June arrivals in Hong Kong brought the first-half total to 5.95 million, a fall of -20.7% year-on-year.
In the first 20 days of July, over 760,000 visitors arrived in Hong Kong, surpassing the level for the whole of June. But according to HKTB chairman Selina Chow, it will take a year for the number of visitors to return to pre-SARS levels.
In June, all markets except mainland China posted a decline, the tourism promotion body said, with arrivals from Japan constituting the biggest drop among leading markets for Hong Kong.
Arrivals from mainland China grew +11% to 470,562 last month on a year-on-year basis.
The HKTB said the average hotel occupancy rate was 34% in June, down from 79% in the same month in 2002. Average occupancy stood at 54% in the first half, compared with 82% for the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association is poised to launch a series of promotions in a bid to speed up the industry’s recovery from SARS.
