HONG KONG'S hotel occupancy rate slid three percentage points to 81 per cent in the first five months of the year compared to the same period last year.
There had been a declining number of visitors to Hong Kong since the end of last year,the Hong Kong Tourist Association reported.
It said the occupancy rate for last month was 82 per cent.
While high-tariff B hotels and medium-tariff hotels both saw marginal rises in occupancy of one per cent each, the rate for high-tariff A hotels dipped two per cent to 78 per cent.
Total arrivals for January to April came to more than three million, with the biggest drop - 5.1 per cent - in visitors from North America.
The number of Japanese visitors decreased to 453,675.
Sassoon Securities analyst Vivian Kwok said the fall was due to the continuing negative effect of the Kobe earthquake earlier this year.