Hong Kong's tourism figures have made a steady start to the new year with 1,068,646 visitor arrivals recorded in January 2001, a 7.9 percent increase on the same month in 2000, according to the Hong Kong Tourist Association (HKTA) Tuesday.

Boosted by a week-long lunar new year holiday, arrivals from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan showed the highest growth in January. Visitors from the mainland grew by 20.0 percent to 370, 531, while those from Taiwan increased by 15.2 percent to 196,194.

In addition to the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, other short- haul markets showing growth in January were India, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. In the long-haul markets, arrivals from the United Kingdom showed an encouraging 10.5 percent growth, followed by New Zealand, Canada and the United States.

In total, 66.9 percent of January's visitors stay in Hong Kong for one night or longer, compared with 69.7 percent in January 2000. Visitors from Taiwan continue to be the shortest stayers, with only 28.8 percent staying overnight.

Overall hotel occupancy for January was 74 percent, below the 80 percent recorded in January 2000.

(People’s Daily 02/28/2001)