Hong Kong Sees Continued Growth in Visitor ArrivalsVisitor arrivals in Hong Kong in November 2000 exceeded one million for the ninth consecutive month, according to figures released Saturday by the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA).A total of 1,118,517 arrivals represents a 7.2 percent increase from November 1999. By the end of November, 11.83 million arrivals had been recorded. While the growth rate is lower than in some previous months, overall growth for the first 11 months of 2000 remains at 15.0 percent, and the HKTA still expects the final arrivals total for 2000 to come close to the 1996 record of 12.97 million. A particular encouraging trend in November was renewed growth in the long-haul markets after a lull in October. Arrivals from the Americas grew 10.4 percent compared with November 1999. Arrivals from Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific grew 7.4 percent, and those from Europe, Africa and the Middle East grew 3.1 percent. Hotel occupancy averaged 89 percent during November and 90 percent at the highest tariff hotel. For the first 11 months of 2000, total occupancy averaged 83 percent, compared with 79 percent for the same period in 1999. |
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