Hong Kong's Deputy Financial Secretary, Mr Wong Wai Lun, said that visitors to Hong Kong are showing a steady month-on-month increase. More than 4 million visitors were recorded in February, up from January.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that Hong Kong's Deputy Financial Secretary, Wong Wai Lun, said that visitors to Hong Kong are rising steadily from month to month, with more than 4 million visitors recorded in February, up from January. If the trend continues, he estimates that 50 million visitors will visit Hong Kong this year, and believes that Hong Kong is still very attractive as a tourist city. He is also very optimistic about the future of Hong Kong's tourism industry this year, and pointed out that Hong Kong needs to be well equipped with manpower and flight facilities.
Regarding the “Art March” series of events and events being held in Hong Kong, Wong Wai Lun believes that the various events held recently are estimated to attract more than 4 million visitors, including Hong Kong residents and visitors to Hong Kong. Citing an economic consultant's assessment, he said that the revenue from every 1.5 million visitors to Hong Kong accounts for one-thousandth of Hong Kong's gross domestic product, which is equivalent to an economic benefit of 3 billion yuan.
In addition, Wong Wai Lun mentioned that in order to cope with the shortage of workers in the industry, the Hong Kong Tourism and Development Board is also promoting a “Quality Travel Service” scheme to encourage the industry to improve service quality. At the same time, in response to the aviation industry's manpower and capacity recovery time, the authorities will closely monitor the airline's flight capacity situation. He believes that with the three-run operation, it will have a positive impact on the recovery of the tourism industry.
On the other hand, the number of visitors to Hong Kong last year was 34 million, recovering to 52% in 2018. According to the “2023 Visitor Analysis Report”, the proportion of overnight visitors last year was 50%, higher than 45% in 2018, and the average length of stay was 3.6 days, which was 3.1 days longer than in 2018; overnight travelers spent 6,900 yuan per year, which was higher than 6,600 yuan in 2018. Among them, last year's tourist consumption was mainly shopping, accounting for about 46% of the total consumption.
In terms of mainland visitors, the number of mainland visitors last year was 26.76 million, accounting for 78% of the total number of visitors to Hong Kong. About 46% of mainland visitors chose to stay overnight, up from 39% in 2018, and the length of stay for overnight travelers was 3.5 days, which is also longer than 3 days in 2018. However, their per capita consumption was 6,500 yuan, which is less than 7,000 yuan per capita in 2018.
In terms of short-haul visitors, visitors from the Philippines recovered the fastest. There were 760,000 visitors last year, recovering to 85% in 2018, but South Korean visitors and Japanese visitors are recovering slowly. The recovery rate for long-haul travelers was also slow, with 590,000 visitors to the US last year, recovering to 46% in 2018.