Hong Kong sees 40 pct rise in visitor arrivals in first nine months

HONG KONG, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong recorded nearly 32.6 million visitor arrivals in the first three quarters of this year, marking a year-on-year increase of nearly 40 percent, data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board showed Thursday.

Among the total arrivals, over 25.2 million were from the Chinese mainland, increasing by some 35 percent year on year, while visitor arrivals from elsewhere surged by 59 percent during the period.

In September alone, Hong Kong recorded nearly 3.1 million visitor arrivals, reflecting a 10-percent rise compared to the same month last year, with approximately half of these arrivals consisting of overnight visitors.

Notably, in the first three quarters, the number of visitor arrivals from South Korea exceeded 592,000, representing a year-on-year increase of 171.3 percent, while visitor arrivals from France surpassed 93,700, representing a year-on-year growth of 73.6 percent.