The drop in the number of mainland tourists narrowed to 3.8 per cent, while the number of overnight visitors increased by 1.4 per cent.

Overnight visitors to Hong Kong, some 2.01 million people, made up 47 per cent of the total visitors - representing 4.1 per cent growth.

A spokeswoman of the board said the rise in international overnight visitors was due to strengthened promotional campaigns in various Asian markets, which began in the first half of this year.

“We have launched different travel products at a bargain price. We are targeting families and the young employed to visit Hong Kong,” she said.

More flight and hotel packages, which include tickets for attractions, have been rolled out to attract visitors.

While Asian visitors recorded an 8.6 per cent growth, some countries such as the Philippines and Thailand reported more than 20 per cent growth, and South Korea reported a 52.3 per cent jump.

The spokeswoman said that the dramatic growth in South Korea was due to the abnormally weak market last year, due to the fear of Middle East respiratory syndrome.

The encouraging increase in Hong Kong’s international visitors came after a 10.6 per cent drop of mainland visitors in the first six months of the year.

The board explained the significant drop was mainly due to implementation of the “one trip per week” policy for Shenzhen residents in April last year, replacing the multiple-visit permit they used to hold.

Tourism sector Lawmaker Yiu Si-wing saw the trend as a help of “balancing” the grouping of tourists, which used to be mostly mainland and same-day visitors.

“The growth could be due to cheaper hotel prices, which saw a 5 to 10 per cent drop this year than the previous year,” said Yiu.

“Mainland visitors used to have a great demand in hotel rooms and pushed up the prices,” he said.

He expected the growth in the number of visitors to continue if hotel prices remained at a stable level.