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Mainland arrivals set milestone in Chinese New Year golden week

Direct News Source

09-Feb-2011 Mr James Tien, Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), has made the following remarks on visitor arrivals from Mainland China during the Chinese New Year Golden Week (2 to 8 February):

"During the seven-day Chinese New Year Golden Week, visitor arrivals from Mainland China reached a new high at 662,928, which represented a 15.7%-increase compared to the same Golden Week last year. In particular, arrivals on 7 February totalled 117,879, breaking the single-day record for Mainland arrivals in history.

"Out of the total Mainland arrivals, those who travelled under the Individual Visit Scheme and on group tours took up 82%, while the remaining travelled with exit-entry permits for either business purposes or visiting relatives.

"The majority or 67% of Mainland visitors came on the Individual Visit Scheme. The figure, which stood at 445,772, is 18.2% more than the corresponding period last year. Among these, 20% (82,020) were Shenzhen residents travelling with the multiple-entry visa endorsement, a significant growth of 48.9% over the figure last year. As for those travelling on group tours, they accounted for 15% (96,282) of overall Mainland arrivals and an increase of 16.9% compared to last year.

"Our Chinese New Year celebrations were recently ranked by Forbes as one of the 10 Best Events of the Year. The HKTB will capitalise on this to reinforce Hong Kong's image as a travel destination. Meanwhile, we hope the Hong Kong Government, which is conducting a complete review of the tourism industry operations, will set up a statutory organisation as soon as possible. By regulating the industry through legislation, we hope we can weed out the unethical practices of selected travel agents receiving inbound Mainland group tours."

Below show Mainland arrivals to Hong Kong during the 2011 Chinese New Year Golden Week:

Day in Lunar New Year

2011 (Vs. 2010)

2010

Lunar New Year's Eve

43,555 (+8.0%)

40,316

1st Day

60,053 (+10.2%)

54,476

2nd Day

105,085 (+10.3%)

95,278

3rd Day

114,406 (+11.2%)

102,849

4th Day

116,832 (+20.3%)

97,130

5th Day

117,879 (+21.8%)

96,807

6th Day

105,118 (+22.0%)

86,158

Total

662,928 (+15.7%)

573,014