Hong Kong recorded almost 13 million visitor arrivals in the first half of 2023. The figure, however, is less than half of what the city saw pre-Covid.
According to a Tourism Board statement published on Friday, Hong Kong saw 12,883,879 arrivals from January to June, with those from mainland China accounting for around 78 per cent of the total.
In June, the city saw 2.75 million arrivals with a daily average of about 92,000 visitors, provisional figures showed.
“The [Tourism Board] expects Hong Kong’s tourism will continue to recover steadily in the second half of the year,” the board said.
The tourism industry was hit hard during Covid-19, as the city enforced strict rules requiring visitors to quarantine in hotels at their own expense and undergo multiple Covid tests upon arrival. The city maintained stringent measures even as countries around the world relaxed their protocols.
The city only lifted its hotel quarantine requirement last September and allowed unvaccinated non-residents to enter in February. Experts have warned that the tourism sector faces a long road to recovery.
The 13 million arrivals over the past six months is only a fraction of pre-Covid figures. In the same half-year period in 2018 and 2019, Hong Kong recorded 30.6 million and 34.9 million arrivals respectively.
The proportion of mainland Chinese arrivals has remained constant across the three years at between 77 and 80 per cent.
In February, authorities unveiled a “Hello Hong Kong” campaign to attract visitors, partnering with local airlines to give away plane tickets to the city. The aviation industry, however, has warned that a shortage of staff – many of whom changed careers during Covid-19 – is stalling the industry’s recovery.
The Tourism Board said it would continue to “deepen” the Hello Hong Kong campaign and hold events such as the Hong Kong Cyclothon and the Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival, both scheduled for October.
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