The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced today that the Total Tourism Expenditure Associated to Inbound Tourism (TEAIT) in 2010 reached a historic high of HK$209.98 billion, 32.7% more than in 2009. Also showing increase was the per capita spending of overnight visitors, which surged by 16.6% to HK$6,728, while that of same-day, in-town visitors rose by 2.7% to HK$1,846.

HKTB Chairman Mr James Tien said: “Last year, we welcomed 36.03 million visitor arrivals to Hong Kong, 21.8% more than 2009. The increase in arrivals, along with the strengthening of most currencies against the Hong Kong dollar, which stimulated visitors’ spending, led to remarkable growth in the total tourism expenditure. Looking into 2011, we expect further growth in arrivals to 39.64 million, provided that the global economy remains stable and the Mainland maintains its robust economic growth. Another contributory factor would be the implementation of measures to facilitate individual visits by both non-Guangdong and Guangdong residents in Shenzhen. All these are projected to give a further boost to the tourism receipts to around HK$244.40 billion in 2011.”

Total Spending by Overnight and Same-Day Visitors
In 2010, the total spending by overnight visitors amounted to HK$135.14 billion, which represents a significant growth of 38.4% over 2009. As for the per capita spending of overnight visitors, this increased by 16.6% year-on-year to an average of HK$6,728.

All market regions achieved remarkable growth in their respective overnight per capita spending figure in 2010, with especially outstanding performance by the long-haul regions, which showed increases of 30% or more. Furthermore, the per capita spending figures of individual long-haul markets were either close to or above the average of all overnight visitors. As for the short-haul regions, the per capita spending of overnight visitors from North Asia and from South and Southeast Asia also made an impressive leap of 27.8% and 17.7% respectively.

Among all overnight visitors, those from Mainland China continued to have the highest per capita spending at HK$7,453, 12.6% more than in 2009. The higher spending not only reflected the rapid economic growth of the Mainland, which stimulated spending and outbound travel, but also underlined Hong Kong’s position as one of the first-choice destinations among Mainland travellers.

In 2010, the total spending by same-day, in-town visitors reached HK$29.35 billion, 29.4% more than in 2009. As for the average per capita spending, this increased by 2.7% to HK$1,846.

Again, same-day visitors from Mainland China made the highest spending per capita.  Most of them came from southern China, some of whom made use of the “one year, multiple endorsement” measure under the Individual Visit Scheme to come to Hong Kong for consumption visits (with shopping as the main purpose). Given that they made frequent visits to Hong Kong, their spending levels were relatively stable. In contrast, same-day visitors from other market regions tend to make brief stops in the city for business purposes or transit to other destinations via various transport means. As a result, their per capita spending figures were relatively lower than that of the Mainland.

Spending Patterns
In 2010, the total spending on shopping by visitors to Hong Kong surged by 33.5% year-on-year to HK$109.59 billion. For both overnight and same-day visitors, shopping took up the largest share of their spending, which stood at 61.7% and 89.4% respectively.

The proportion was even higher for overnight and same-day visitors from Mainland China, which reached 73.6% and 92.2% respectively. Among the overnight Mainland visitors in 2010, 46% purchased ready-made wear during their stay. Other popular shopping items included cosmetics and skin care (44%), snacks / confectioneries (31%), shoes / other footwear (22%) and medicine / Chinese herbs (19%).

Calculation of TEAIT
As in previous years, the tourism expenditure figures have been calculated according to methodology recommended by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The two components of TEAIT are: (1) Total Destination Consumption Expenditure – the sum of all payments made by visitors for goods and services consumed in Hong Kong, including accommodation, shopping, meals and entertainment.  The information is collected from HKTB’s Departing Visitors Survey; (2) Passenger International Transportation Expenditure – receipts of Hong Kong-based carriers for cross-boundary transportation of non-resident passengers by air, sea or land.  The data is provided by the Census and Statistics Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government.

The HKTB conducts surveys among departing visitors at eight control points (exit ports) in Hong Kong throughout the year. The total annual sample size for these surveys in 2010 exceeded 260,000. During the survey, respondents would be asked a number of questions concerning their visits to Hong Kong, such as their tour itineraries, the places visited, the spending and items purchased, as well as their satisfaction rating of various aspects.