Don’t call it a comeback: Hong Kong tourism figures in April fall by smallest margin this year
City’s improving figures powered by overseas arrivals but officials still cautious
The city’s tourism sector showed signs of recovery in April as the dip in overall visitor arrivals shrank to 2.1 per cent from the 4.3 per cent decline in March, official figures show.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board found the number of mainland Chinese visitors, who account for roughly 80 per cent of the city’s total arrivals, fell 4 per cent in April – a marked improvement from the 6.9 per cent decline recorded in March and the 18 per cent slump in February and January.
April saw continuing improvement in the number of overseas visitors, which grew 3.6 per cent.
For the first time this year, the number of overnight visitors from the mainland saw an uptick, expanding 2.7 per cent in April compared with the same period last year. The number of total overnight arrivals grew 4.1 per cent for the month.
Despite April’s bounceback, the city’s official tourism promoter remained “cautiously optimistic” about the future.
The board’s executive director Anthony Lau Chun-hon said he “wouldn’t dare to say whether the tourism industry had started a recovery”.
“We still need to see more figures in the coming months,” he said, adding that figures could fluctuate.
