Tourism in Hong Kong

Victoria Harbour at night from Victoria Peak

The tourism industry has been an important part of the economy of Hong Kong since it shifted to a service sector model in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There has been a sharp increase of domestic tourists from mainland China following the introduction of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) in 2003.

Background

The total tourism expenditure associated with inbound tourism reached Template:Dollarsign7,333 per capita in 2011. According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Overall visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in 2010 totalled just over 36 million, a 21.8% increase over the previous year. The numbers included approximately 22.5 million mainland Chinese arrivals, 8.2 million short-haul (excluding Mainland) arrivals, and 4.8 million long-haul arrivals.<ref>Release of Provisional Visitor Arrivals for 2010, Hong Kong Tourism Board, 7 January 2011</ref> In July 2011 more than 3.8 million visitors arrived in Hong Kong, equivalent to more than half of Hong Kong's population and setting an outright record for a single month.<ref>Visitor Arrivals in July Exceed 3.8 Million to Break Single-Month Record, Hong Kong Tourism Board, 26 August 2011</ref>

Along with the strong growth in the number of mainland visitors, most other long and short-haul markets are also performing healthily with double-digit growth over 2006. Among long-haul markets, Europe, Africa and the Middle East took the lead with arrivals of 1,916,861, an 11.1% increase that made this Hong Kong's best-performing market region in 2006.

While facing increasing competition from mainland cities and Macau, the Hong Kong Tourism Board works closely with authorities and trade to make Hong Kong an essential component in all combo and multi-destination itineraries.

Tourism, along with international trade and financial services are the three main sources of income for Hong Kong. According to Hong Kong's finance secretary, since the protests of 2019, tourism has plunged by 40% compared to 2018.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Accommodation and length of stay

In December 2006, there were 612 hotels and tourist guest houses in Hong Kong, with 52,512 rooms. The average occupancy rate across all categories of hotels and tourist guesthouses was 87% for the whole of 2006, a one-percentage-point growth compared with 2005 despite the 7.4% increase in Hong Kong's room supply between December 2005 and December 2006. During 2006, 62.7% of all visitors stayed one night or longer, which is a trend reflecting Hong Kong's increasing importance as a regional transport hub.

Tourism Commission

The Tourism Commission was established in May 1999 to promote Hong Kong as Asia's premier international city for all visitors. A Tourism Strategy Group, comprising representatives from the Government, the HKTB and various sectors of the tourism industry has been established to advise the Government on tourism development from a strategic perspective.

Statistics

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Yearly tourist arrivals in millions<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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Top most visiting nationalities

Most visitors arriving to Hong Kong were from the following country or territory of residence:<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Country/Territory	Total
	9/2025	2024	2023	2019	2018	2017	2016	2015
Template:Flagicon Mainland China	27,985,883	34,043,127	26,760,453	43,774,685	51,038,230	44,445,259	42,778,145	45,842,360
Template:Flag	1,161,052	1,244,610	783,778	1,538,915	1,925,234	2,010,755	2,011,428	2,015,797
Template:Flag	955,477	1,194,446	763,778	875,897	894,821	894,489	791,171	704,082
Template:Flag	717,571	884,262	594,752	1,107,165	1,304,232	1,215,629	1,211,539	1,181,024
Template:Flag	682,559	854,873	402,999	1,042,540	1,421,411	1,487,670	1,392,367	1,243,293
Template:Flag	537,602	560,169	346,389	1,078,836	1,287,773	1,230,010	1,092,329	1,049,272
Template:Flag	387,448	521,645	450,372	467,048	571,606	560,207	594,615	529,410
Template:Flag	309,808	370,857	240,705	505,523	580,167	567,881	575,812	574,270
Template:Flag	304,546	466,071	400,029	453,182	610,508	627,612	674,006	675,411
Template:Flag	301,338	377,792	207,655	337,997	386,681	392,853	480,906	531,770
Template:Flag	284,625	405,508	258,191	392,562	510,601	516,701	535,542	544,688
Template:Flag	283,792	366,973	252,432	375,781	427,007	482,022	464,406	413,568
Template:Flag	245,728	320,631	209,028	318,479	377,992	370,335	369,363	358,448
Template:Flag	236,871	294,438	212,286	518,378	572,739	555,353	551,930	529,505
Template:Flag	134,515	168,115	106,767	217,779	226,819	225,183	226,594	213,802
Template:Flag	113,105	144,651	86,255	177,768	201,850	204,130	213,641	209,825
Template:Flag	104,317	131,598	56,063	138,679	161,916	148,098	142,664	151,469
Template:Flag	60,435	79,940	49,530	85,227	93,863	94,826	95,762	91,596
Template:Flag	49,623	48,309	34,662	44,406	56,807	55,652	59,443	58,969
Total	36,471,648	44,502,787	33,999,660	55,912,609	65,147,555	58,472,157	56,654,903	59,307,596

Attractions and facilities

Peak Tram can reach Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island

Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum on Hong Kong Island

Star Ferry Pier, Central on Hong Kong Island

The Clock Tower at Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

The following locations are areas generally marked as main attractions.

Hong Kong Island

Victoria Peak Victoria Harbour Star Ferry Pier, Central Lan Kwai Fong SoHo Stanley Repulse Bay Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum Ocean Park Hong Kong Sai Wan Ho Hong Kong Film Archive Tai On Building: Numerous Hong Kong "street snacks" can be found here, for instance, egg waffles, bovine offals, cart noodles, fish balls, siu mai, torn pancakes and others.

Kowloon

Including New Kowloon

Victoria Harbour Hong Kong Art Museum Avenue of Stars Clock Tower Chungking Mansions

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre Hong Kong History Museum Hong Kong Science Museum Hong Kong International Hobby and Toy Museum Sky100 Hong Kong Observatory

Kowloon Park Nathan Road Ocean Terminal The Peninsula Hotel Temple Street Ladies' Market

Hong Kong Space Museum Star Ferry Pier, Tsim Sha Tsui Kowloon Walled City Wong Tai Sin Temple Chi Lin Nunnery Lei Yue Mun

New Territories

Including the Outlying Islands

Che Kung Temple Cheung Chau Lamma Island Hong Kong Disneyland Resort Hong Kong Heritage Museum

Hong Kong Railway Museum Hong Kong Wetland Park Jockey Club Museum of Climate Change Ngong Ping 360

Ping Shan Tai O Tian Tan Buddha Ting Kau Bridge

Tsing Ma Bridge Tung Chung Fort Sai Kung

Retail

Because Hong Kong benefits from favorable taxation rules, it is a favored location for tourists from elsewhere in China to purchase luxury goods like cosmetics, jewelry, and designer fashion goods.<ref name=":132">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Tourism events

Hong Kong has a number of events throughout the year that are aimed at attracting visitors. The authority claims that Hong Kong is an Events Capital of Asia.

International Chinese New Year Night Parade

First organised in 1996, the International Chinese New Year Night Parade is one of the most important celebratory events during Chinese New Year in Hong Kong. Originally it was held during day time on Hong Kong Island, and from 2004 onward the event has been held during night time in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Apart from the decorated floats, the parade also features local and international performance groups.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The 2018 parade attracted over 150,000 spectators, half of them were visitors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accessing Hong Kong

To facilitate entry of visitors, various measures were introduced in 2002. The quota of the Hong Kong Tour Group Scheme of mainland visitors has been abolished since January 2002. The number of mainland travel agents authorized to organize such tours has also increased significantly. Nationals from some 170 countries can visit Hong Kong visa free for period from seven days to 180 days. The Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) was introduced on 28 July 2003. The Scheme has been gradually extended and now covers Guangdong province, Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Tianjin and nine cities in Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. In 2006, over 6.6 million mainland citizens traveled to Hong Kong under the IVS, which is 20.2% more than 2005.

Promotion

The HKTB continues to promote the destination to business and leisure travellers through its worldwide "Hong Kong – Live it, Love it!" campaign. Leveraging on the opening of several new attractions from 2005 onwards, the HKTB has designated 2006 as "Discover Hong Kong Year". The global marketing campaign makes use of a series of strategic promotions to showcase the new image of Hong Kong and promote it as a "must-visit" destination in 2006. The HKTB began its travel trade promotion in May 2005 and rolled out the consumer promotions worldwide in late 2005. Aloagreement, a series of joint overseas marketing initiatives is being conducted with Macau and the nine provincial tourism bureaus concerned.

Controversies

Birth tourism in Hong Kong

In the years up to till 2012, birth tourism in Hong Kong had been increasing.<ref>"The Fertility Trend in Hong Kong, 1981 to 2012". "Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department". December 2013. Retrieved 29 October 2014</ref> Pregnant mainland women seeking to give birth in Hong Kong, specifically to benefit from the right of abode.<ref name=hks20120417door/> Parents came from mainland to give birth in Hong Kong, which resulted in their children gaining the right to abode and enjoy social welfare in the city. Hong Kong citizens expressed concerns that the pregnant women and babies put heavier burden on Hong Kong's medical system.<ref name=LCQ4/> Some of them even called mainland people "locusts" which take away Hong Kong's resources from locals.<ref>"800人捐款　五日籌十萬高登下周登報促截「雙非」". Apple Daily. 27 January 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2014</ref> Over 170,000 new births where both parents were mainland people between 2001 and 2011,<ref>Template:In lang自由黨倡停發雙非嬰居港權 Template:Webarchive</ref> of which 32,653 were born in 2010.<ref name="LCQ4">Template:Cite web</ref> CY Leung's first public announcement on policy as Chief Executive-elect was to impose a 'zero' quota on mainland mothers giving birth in Hong Kong. Leung further underlined that those who did may not be able to secure the right of abode for their offspring in Hong Kong.<ref name=hks20120417door>Luk, Eddie (17 April 2012). "Door shuts on moms" Template:Webarchive. The Standard.</ref>

Parallel trading in Hong Kong

Template:Seealso Since 2012, there have been more mainland parallel traders coming to the northern parts of Hong Kong to import goods and export them back to mainland, which earns them some money for each transfer. Some products that are popular among these traders, such as infant formula, faced shortage in Hong Kong for an extended time as a result.<ref>Jennifer, Ngo "Milk powder supplies still not meeting needs". South China Morning Post. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014</ref> This made the government impose restrictions on the amount of milk powder exports from Hong Kong.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Besides, since northern places like Sheung Shui became the transaction centres of the traders, this resulted in discontent from nearby residents.<ref>E-Brochure</ref>

See also

• Amusement parks in Hong Kong
• Beaches of Hong Kong
• Culture of Hong Kong
• Declared monuments of Hong Kong
• Hong Kong Country Parks & Special Areas
• Impacts of tourism
• List of areas of Hong Kong
• List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong
• Museums in Hong Kong
• Outbound Travel Alert System
• Shopping in Hong Kong
• Tourism carrying capacity
• Tourism in China
• Transport in Hong Kong
• Visa policy of Hong Kong

Further reading

• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite web

External links

• Hong Kong Tourism Board
• Local travel guide, Home Affairs Department
• Tourism Satellite Account for Inbound Tourism of Hong Kong – Census and Statistics Department