Hong Kong tourist spending hits new high in 2010
03-Apr-2011 Tourists spent a record $209.98 billion last year, up 32.7% on 2009, the Hong Kong Tourism Board announced today.
Per capita spending of overnight visitors rose 16.6% to $6,728, while that of same-day, in-town visitors rose by 2.7% to $1,846.
The board's chairman James Tien said Hong Kong welcomed 36.03 million visitors last year, 21.8% more than in 2009.
Total spending by overnight visitors amounted to $135.14 billion, up 38.4%. All market regions achieved remarkable growth in overnight per capita spending, with an increase of 30% or more for long-haul regions and 27.8% for North Asia.
Mainlanders continued to have the highest per capita spending for overnight visitors at $7,453.
For same-day, in-town visitors, total spending reached $29.35 billion. Again, Mainlanders were the biggest spenders in this category.
Shopping took up the largest share of the visitor spending, up 33.5% year-on-year to $109.59 billion.
Mr Tien expects visitor arrivals to swell to 39.64 million this year, provided the global economy remains stable and the Mainland maintains its robust economic growth.