Wednesday, January 31, 2001, updated at 09:06(GMT+8)
Business
More Tourists Visit HK in December 2000 Over December 1999
Visitor arrival in Hong Kong during December 2000 grew by 18.5 percent compared with the same month in 1999, giving a flourishing finale to an already strong year of resurgence for Hong Kong's tourism industry, the Hong Kong Tourist Association said in a news release Tuesday.
The strong December performance took total arrivals for the year 2000 to a new record of just under 13.06 million, comfortably beating the previous best total of 12.97 million recorded in 1996, said Chow Liang Shuk-yee, Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourist Association.
An especially encouraging feature of the December figures is that strong growth was recorded across the board, with the higher- yield long-haul markets showing double-digit increases as well as the short-haul markets, the association said.
Meanwhile, hotel occupancy averaged 86 percent in December and 83 percent for 2000 as a whole, compared with 79 percent in 1999.
Visitor arrival in Hong Kong during December 2000 grew by 18.5 percent compared with the same month in 1999, giving a flourishing finale to an already strong year of resurgence for Hong Kong's tourism industry, the Hong Kong Tourist Association said in a news release Tuesday.