Visitor arrivals in Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year have risen significantly.

Figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) show that 680,000 visitor arrivals were recorded in the four days from the Chinese New Year's Eve to the third day of the Chinese New Year, an increase of 6% compared with the previous year.

As of 9 p.m. on the fourth day of the Chinese New Year yesterday (Feb. 1), nearly 200,000 visitors entered Hong Kong.

Figures from the Immigration Department show that as of 9 p.m. yesterday, more than 1.02 million people entered and left Hong Kong through various control points, with more than 530,000 arrivals. The number of arrivals was 195,000, of which 170,000 were from the Mainland and 24,000 were from overseas.

In a radio program yesterday, Dane Cheng said that a total of 680,000 visitors were attracted to Hong Kong in the four days to the third day of the Chinese New Year, with Mainland visitors accounting for a 564,000 or 4% year-on-year increase, while non-Mainland visitors accounted for 114,000, or a 16% increase. The number of Chinese New Year overnight visitors was more or less the same as usual, with more than 90% of hotels having an occupancy rate of 100%. Half of last year's overall visitor arrivals were overnight visitors, who stayed for an average of 3.2 nights in Hong Kong, with non-Mainland visitors becoming more and more common.

Cheng said a number of events will be taking place, including the Hong Kong Marathon next Sunday, the unveiling of the giant panda twins this month, the opening of the Kai Tak Sports Park in March and the staging of the Rugby Sevens. The HKTB will launch publicity campaigns to attract more visitors to Hong Kong. He also believed that with the increase in aviation capacity and the gradual decrease in airfares, more tourists from Europe and the United States would be willing to come to Asia and Hong Kong.

The Chief Secretary for Administration, Chan Kwok-ki, said yesterday that the Chinese New Year market is booming, with more tour groups, hotels and retailers reporting good business, and he invited 20 Legislative Council members to a restaurant in Sha Tin the night before. He described the restaurant as a full house that night. He considered that the set menu offered by the restaurant has a very "high price-performance ratio", and hoped that the public would pay attention to the fact that there are still a lot of inexpensive and quality restaurants in Hong Kong when they go to the Mainland to shop.

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