Malls look to diversify as numbers of non-mainland tourists grow

Mainland visitors have been the defining feature of Hong Kong's tourism market over the past decade.

While the trend is expected to continue, some property consultants say it may be worth taking a look at visitors from other countries and their spending and accommodation patterns, as operators of shopping centres seek to diversify their shopper profile.

Russian and Indian tourists, in particular, are expected to grow in numbers.

Hong Kong received more than 40 million mainland tourists last year - 13 per cent more than in 2012 - representing 75 per cent of all arrivals, said Simon Smith, a senior director of research and consultancy at Savills.

But Smith said a third of overnight visitors last year originated from places other than the mainland, not an insignificant number.

"Given domestic conditions of rising incomes, more leisure time and fewer political and bureaucratic hurdles to overseas travel, it is fair to assume that these numbers will increase over time," he said.

Russia and India stood near the bottom of the list of sources of overnight visitor arrivals last year. But the number of Russian tourists jumped 16 per cent from 2012 to 146,221 and the number of Indians grew 5 per cent to 284,607.