Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the third quarter of 2009 rose by 2.76% year-on-year to 147.67. The price indices of Miscellaneous Goods and Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco increased notably by 8.89% and 5.68% respectively, which was attributable to dearer prices of jewellery led by rising gold prices, general increase of food prices and higher prices of cigarettes. On the contrary, price indices of Clothing & Footwear and Transport & Communications registered year-on-year decreases of 3.25% and 2.34% respectively. The third quarter TPI went up by 1.08% quarter-to-quarter, of which the price index of Clothing & Footwear increased by 6.45%, on account of higher prices for new arrivals of men’s and ladies’ clothing. Meanwhile, price indices of Miscellaneous Goods and Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco rose by 2.75% and 2.52% respectively. On the other hand, price index of Accommodation registered a decrease of 5.15% due to lower hotel room rates. The average TPI for the last 4 quarters ended the third quarter of 2009 increased by 3.07% over the previous period, with marked increase of the indices of Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco (+8.20%), Restaurant Service (+7.38%) and Clothing & Footwear (+5.08%); however, price index of Accommodation registered a decrease of 4.45%. For the first three quarters of 2009, TPI went up by 1.99% year-on-year. TPI reflects the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors, which is compiled based on the consumption pattern of visitors derived from the Visitor Expenditure Survey. TPI covers 8 sections of goods and services, namely Food, Alcoholic Drinks & Tobacco; Clothing & Footwear; Accommodation; Restaurant Service; Transport & Communications; Medicine & Personal Goods; Entertainment & Cultural Activities; and Miscellaneous Goods. The base year of TPI is from July 1999 to June 2000.
