Hong Kong to welcome nearly 4 million mainlanders this month, AI-driven index predicts
- Index, first of its kind in city, uses information gathered from more than 10 million data points taken from online sources such as social media and online travel agencies
- Predicted number would be almost 83 per cent of arrivals recorded in August 2018
Nearly 4 million mainland Chinese tourists are predicted to visit Hong Kong this month, almost 83 per cent of the number recorded in the same month in 2018, according to a new index driven by artificial intelligence (AI) designed to help the industry draft strategies and improve planning.
The forecast took into account the number of mainland arrivals, hotel occupancy and average daily rates for rooms. It was released by the School of Business and Management of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and data analysts Wisers Information on Thursday.
Professor Hui Kai-lung, the director of the HKUST Centre for Business and Social Analytics, said mainland visitors were chosen for the index because they accounted for about 80 per cent of the city’s tourist arrivals.
“Mainland visitors hold the key to the revival of Hong Kong’s pandemic-hit travel sector,” he said.
The index, the first AI-driven analysis of tourism available in Hong Kong, predicted 3.99 million mainlanders would visit in August, nearly 83 per cent of the 4.28 million recorded in the same month in 2018.