Fuelled by a surge in mainland visitors, the number of travellers entering Hong Kong rose more than 20 per cent last year to a record high of 16.6 million.
Tourists from the mainland accounted for 41 per cent of visitors, with 6.8 million coming to Hong Kong.
However, more than a third of the tourists did not even stay one night. The 'same-day' visitors, many of them businesspeople from Taiwan, were just passing through Hong Kong in trips to and from the mainland. They accounted for 35.5 per cent of visitors, compared with 35.3 per cent in 2001 and 32.5 per cent the year before.
Hong Kong Tourism Board chairwoman Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee said the relaxation of mainland visa rules had spurred enormous growth in visitor numbers last year, but further rises would be less dramatic unless there were more changes.
Although visitor numbers from regions other than the mainland had recovered to levels before the September 11, 2001, terror attacks in the US, the mainland was the star performer, Mrs Chow said.
The board predicts an 8.4 per cent growth in visitor numbers this year to almost 18 million, compared with 16.6 million last year and 13.7 million in 2001.
