Hong Kong saw nearly 34 million visitor arrivals last year, according to provisional statistics released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) on Saturday, although figures remained firmly below pre-pandemic levels.
There were almost 3.93 million arrivals in Hong Kong in December, 2.95 million of which came from mainland China – remaining the city’s largest source market that accounted for 78.7 per cent of visitors over 12 months.
Hong Kong’s border with mainland China fully reopened in February, ending three years of Covid-related travel curbs. Face masks, however, remained mandatory until the following month, and pre-departure and post-arrival virus testing requirements were in place until April 1.
In an attempt to boost tourism, the government set up large-scale initiatives, such as the “Hello Hong Kong” campaign – which included a giveaway of 500,000 plane tickets at a cost of HK$2 billion. The HKTB spent “at least” a further HK$100 million to promote the initiative at home and abroad, a spokesperson told HKFP in April.
Despite these efforts, arrivals lagged 2019, when they were affected by pro-democracy protests, which saw sometimes-violent scenes broadcast around the world. That year, visitor arrivals dropped by 14.2 per cent to 55.91 million, according to the city’s Tourism Commission.
“In the past year, the HKTB focused on reconnecting with visitors around the world and drive the steady recovery of Hong Kong’s tourism,” HKTB executive director Dane Cheng said in a statement.
Consumption, too, has failed to recover despite a rise in visitors, with the government launching several campaigns to both attract tourists and convince Hongkongers to stay and spend their money in the city.
Despite such efforts, many of the city’s residents have continued to travel abroad. Over the Christmas holiday weekend last month, Hongkongers made 1.32 million outgoing trips, almost triple the amount of visitor arrivals.
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