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Record 34 million tourists to visit Hong Kong this year

Other News Materials 23 October 2010 09:49 (UTC +04:00)
Tourism officials said the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong would reach record numbers this year, a media report said Saturday.
Record 34 million tourists to visit Hong Kong this year

Tourism officials said the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong would reach record numbers this year, a media report said Saturday.

The Tourism Board recorded 26 million visits through September, and revised it initial forecast of 31 million visitors for the full year, the South China Morning Post reported.

"I guess the annual figure may reach 34 million at the end of this year, as the final quarter is traditionally the busiest season for the travel industry," said James Lu, executive director of the Hong Kong Hotels Association, dpa reported.

Jason Shum, a committee member of the Hong Kong Association of Travel Agents, said the number of visitors had been "very strong" in recent months because of the improved economy.

"We see strong growth of visitors coming from Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, because the appreciation of their currencies boosted their purchasing power when visiting Hong Kong," he said.

Lu said hotel room occupancy averaged 85 per cent between January and September, compared with 74 per cent for the first nine months of 2009, when Hong Kong was still suffering from the economic downturn and the swine flu epidemic.

 The Tourism Board said tourist numbers had also been boosted by visitors from mainland China, particularly the border city of Shenzhen.

   "Mainland visitors no longer travel to Hong Kong only during peak travel seasons and festive holidays, they also come for consumer-related visits over weekends," the board said.

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