Hong Kong has recorded 8.4 million visitor arrivals in January and February this year, a 7 per cent year-on-year increase, driven by short-haul visitors from neighbouring countries.
Tourists in Hong Kong. File photo: GovHK.
Visitors from mainland China accounted for the largest number of arrivals, according to provisional data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board, with nearly 6.5 million arrivals in the first two months of 2025 – a 4 per cent rise from the same period last year.
At more than 1.91 million, the arrivals from non-mainland Chinese markets comprised a smaller number, but their year-on-year growth was much higher: 20 per cent.
Around 1.13 million arrivals were from short-haul markets – a 26 per cent increase year on year – thanks to visitors from the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, and South Korea, the HKTB said on Friday. Arrivals from the four countries surged over 30 per cent.
Despite the positive outlook, the numbers of visitor arrivals were still lower than pre-pandemic figures. The total number of visitor arrivals this year is 30 per cent lower than that of January and February 2019, when Hong Kong recorded nearly 12.4 million visitor arrivals.
Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan meets the press on February 26, 2025 after he delivered the 2025 Budget. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Hong Kong recorded more than 10 million visitor arrivals from mainland China in the first two months of 2019, one and a half times more than the 2025 figure.
Hong Kong is trying to lure more visitors from non-mainland Chinese markets in its bid to boost tourism.
The government will allocate over HK$1.23 billion to the HKTB as the city seeks to attract “high-end visitors” from the Middle East and Southeast Asia, financial chief Paul Chan said during his budget speech in February.
