Visitor arrivals for March 2016

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals increased by 4.2% year-on-year to 2,366,941 in March 2016. Overnight visitors rose by 14.1% year-on-year to 1,173,270, whereas same-day visitors dropped by 3.9% to 1,193,671. The average length of stay of visitors increased by 0.3 day year-on-year to 1.2 days; the average stay of same-day visitors (0.2 day) held stable while that of overnight visitors (2.2 days) rose by 0.3 day. Visitors from Mainland China totalled 1,483,813 in March 2016, up by 1.8% year-on-year, yet those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme dropped by 6.1% to 625,993. Mainland visitors came mainly from Guangdong Province (636,632), Fujian Province (59,348) and Hunan Province (59,348). Visitors from Hong Kong (563,408) and Taiwan (78,458) increased by 10.5% and 6.5% respectively year-on-year, while those from the Republic of Korea (41,675) and Japan (27,814) decreased by 4.4% and 2.3% respectively. Long-haul visitors from the United States (16,019), Australia (8,185), Canada (7,196) and the United Kingdom (5,482) recorded increase. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by land increased by 8.2% year-on-year to 1,347,855; those arriving through the Border Gate (1,194,079) and the Checkpoint of Cotai (151,758) rose by 7.9% and 11.0% respectively. Visitor arrivals by sea dropped by 1.8% year-on-year to 843,797; those disembarking at the Outer Harbour (515,084) fell by 3.2% yet those arriving at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa (328,713) rose by 7.3%. Visitor arrivals by air increased by 6.0% year-on-year to 175,289, and those arriving at the airport (174,864) accounted for 99.8% of the total. In the first quarter of 2016, visitor arrivals totalled 7,457,106, up marginally by 0.6% year-on-year; overnight visitors rose by 9.0% to 3,508,517 while same-day visitors dropped by 5.8% to 3,948,589. Visitors from Mainland China (4,941,969) decreased by 1.7% year-on-year, whereas those from the Republic of Korea (173,921), Hong Kong (1,559,681) and Taiwan (250,874) increased by 3.1%, 3.6% and 11.6% respectively. Moreover, long-haul visitors from the United States, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom registered year-on-year increase.