Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that number of visitor arrivals set a new monthly record of 3,569,825 in December 2018, representing a 16.9% growth year-on-year and a 9.3% rise month-to-month. Overnight visitors (1,741,267) and same-day visitors (1,828,558) increased by 6.5% and 28.9% respectively year-on-year. The average length of stay of visitors held steady at 1.2 days compared with December 2017, with that of overnight visitors rising by 0.1 day to 2.2 days and that of same-day visitors staying at 0.2 day.
Visitors from Mainland China grew by 18.4% year-on-year to 2,448,929 in December, and 1,159,968 of them travelled under the Individual Visit Scheme, up by 17.9%. Mainland visitors came primarily from Guangdong Province (963,862) and Hunan Province (121,123). Visitors from the Republic of Korea (77,216), Hong Kong (681,725) and Taiwan (93,036) went up by 0.1%, 19.1% and 5.0% respectively year-on-year. Meanwhile, visitors from the United States (19,611), Australia (10,651), Canada (7,891) and the United Kingdom (4,923) registered year-on-year increases.
For the whole year of 2018, visitor arrivals hit a record high of 35,803,663, an increase of 9.8% year-on-year. Overnight visitors (18,492,951) and same-day visitors (17,310,712) grew by 7.2% and 12.7% respectively. The average length of stay of visitors held stable at 1.2 days over 2017, with that of overnight visitors rising by 0.1 day to 2.2 days and that of same-day visitors remaining unchanged at 0.2 day. Analysed by country/place, visitors from Mainland China (25,260,556), Hong Kong (6,327,925) and Taiwan (1,060,968) increased by 13.8%, 2.6% and 0.1% respectively, while those from the Republic of Korea (812,842) saw a decrease of 7.0%. Visitors from the United States (201,810), Australia (90,914) and the United Kingdom (58,319) recorded year-on-year growth, whereas number of those from Canada (74,268) held steady.
Analysed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by land surged by 18.9% year-on-year to 22,152,467 in 2018, with 1,052,838 entering via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge; visitors arriving through the Border Gate (18,224,963) rose by 13.2%. Visitor arrivals by air increased by 20.1% year-on-year to 3,295,800, with those arriving at the airport (3,276,220) rising by 19.9%. Meanwhile, visitor arrivals by sea decreased by 7.8% to 10,355,396; those disembarking at the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal (6,109,199) and the Taipa Ferry Terminal (4,246,197) dropped by 11.3% and 2.3% respectively.