Visitor arrivals in Hong Kong grow 6 percent in June

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 ◆ Visitor arrivals in Hong Kong grow 6 percent in June

Hong Kong welcomed some 1.17 million visitors in June 2002, representing an encouraging growth of 6 percent compared with the same period of last year.

In releasing the latest figures, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced Monday that total arrivals have now grown by 12.8 percent to some 7.5 million for the first half of this year. HKTB initially forecast a 7.9 percent growth for the year.

Clara Chong, executive director of HKTB, said that if similar growth can be maintained in the second half of 2002, arrivals for the full year should exceed 15 million.

Arrivals from the Chinese mainland, once again, led the way in June, totaling 423,763, a 25.7 percent increase compared with the same month in 2001.

For the first six months of this year, more than 2.88 million mainland tourists have visited Hong Kong, up 43.2 percent over the corresponding period of last year.

There were also encouraging performance from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. The Americas, on the other hand, recorded a minor decrease of 0.1 percent in June.

All these long-haul markets are in general showing positive growth for the first half of this year, according to HKTB.