The tourism industry has been an important part of the

economy of Hong Kong The economy of Hong Kong is a highly developed free-market economy. It is characterised by low taxation, almost free port trade and a well-established international financial market. Its currency, called the Hong Kong dollar, is legally issue ...

since it shifted to a

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

model in the late 1980s and early 90s. There has been a sharp increase of domestic tourists from

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

following the introduction of the

Individual Visit Scheme The Individual Visit Scheme begun on 28 July 2003 allowing travelers from Mainland China to visit Hong Kong and Macau on an individual basis; prior to the Scheme, Mainland residents could only visit on business visas or on group tours. The ou ...

(IVS) in 2003.

Background

The total tourism expenditure associated with inbound tourism reached 7,333 per capita in 2011. According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Overall visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in 2010 totalled just over 36 million, a 21.8% increase over the previous year. The numbers included approximately 22.5 million mainland Chinese arrivals, 8.2 million short-haul (excluding Mainland) arrivals, and 4.8 million long-haul arrivals. In July 2011 more than 3.8 million visitors arrived in Hong Kong, equivalent to more than half of Hong Kong's population and setting an outright record for a single month. Along with the strong growth in the number of Mainland visitors, most other long and short-haul markets are also performing healthily with double-digit growth over 2006. Among long-haul markets, Europe, Africa and the Middle East took the lead with arrivals of 1,916,861, an 11.1% increase that made this Hong Kong's best-performing market region in 2006. While facing increasing competition from Mainland cities and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, the Hong Kong Tourism Board works closely with authorities and trade to make Hong Kong an essential component in all combo and multi-destination itineraries. Tourism, along with

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significa ...

and

financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, ...

are the three main sources of income for Hong Kong. According to Hong Kong's finance secretary, since the protests of 2019, tourism has plunged by 40% compared to 2018.

Accommodation and length of stay

In December 2006, there were 612 hotels and tourist guest houses in Hong Kong, with 52,512 rooms. The average occupancy rate across all categories of hotels and tourist guesthouses was 87% for the whole of 2006, a one-percentage-point growth compared with 2005 despite the 7.4% increase in Hong Kong's room supply between December 2005 and December 2006. During 2006, 62.7% of all visitors stayed one night or longer, which is a trend reflecting Hong Kong's increasing importance as a regional transport hub.

Tourism Commission

The

Tourism Commission Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...

was established in May 1999 to promote Hong Kong as Asia's premier international city for all visitors. A Tourism Strategy Group, comprising representatives from the Government, the HKTB and various sectors of the tourism industry has been established to advise the Government on tourism development from a strategic perspective.

Top 15 most visiting nationalities

Most visitors arriving to Hong Kong were from the following country or territory of residence:

Attractions and facilities

The following locations are areas generally marked as main attractions.

Hong Kong Island

Kowloon

''Including New Kowloon''

New Territories

''Including the Outlying Islands''

Tourism events

Hong Kong has a number a events throughout the year that are aimed at attracting visitors. The authority claims that Hong Kong is an Events Capital of Asia.

International Chinese New Year Night Parade

First organised in 1996, the International Chinese New Year Night Parade is one of the most important celebratory events during Chinese New Year in Hong Kong. Originally it was held during day time on Hong Kong Island, and from 2004 onward the event has been held during night time in Tsim Sha Tsui. Apart from the decorated floats, the parade also features local and international performance groups. The 2018 parade attracted over 150,000 spectators, half of them were visitors.

Accessing Hong Kong

To facilitate entry of visitors, various measures were introduced in 2002. The quota of the Hong Kong Tour Group Scheme of Mainland visitors has been abolished since January 2002. The number of Mainland travel agents authorized to organize such tours has also increased significantly. Nationals from some 170 countries can visit Hong Kong visa free for period from seven days to 180 days. The

(IVS) was introduced on 28 July 2003. The Scheme has been gradually extended and now covers

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

province, Shanghai, Beijing,

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Co ...

, Tianjin and nine cities in

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

, Jiangsu and

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...

. In 2006, over 6.6 million Mainland citizens traveled to Hong Kong under the IVS, which is 20.2% more than 2005.

Promotion

The HKTB continues to promote the destination to business and leisure travellers through its worldwide "Hong Kong – Live it, Love it!" campaign. Leveraging on the opening of several new attractions from 2005 onwards, the HKTB has designated 2006 as "Discover Hong Kong Year". The global marketing campaign makes use of a series of strategic promotions to showcase the new image of Hong Kong and promote it as a "must-visit" destination in 2006. The HKTB began its travel trade promotion in May 2005 and rolled out the consumer promotions worldwide in late 2005. Aloagreement, a series of joint overseas marketing initiatives is being conducted with Macau and the nine provincial tourism bureaus concerned.

Controversies

Birth tourism in Hong Kong

In the years up to till 2012, birth tourism in Hong Kong had been increasing. Pregnant mainland women seeking to give birth in Hong Kong, specifically to benefit from the right of abode. Their parents came from mainland to give birth in Hong Kong, which resulted in their children gaining the right to abode and enjoy social welfare in the city. Hong Kong citizens expressed concerns that the pregnant women and babies put heavier burden on Hong Kong's medical system. Some of them even called mainland people "locusts" which take away Hong Kong's resources from locals. Over 170,000 new births where both parents were mainland people between 2001 and 2011, of which 32,653 were born in 2010. CY Leung's first public announcement on policy as Chief Executive-elect was to impose a 'zero' quota on mainland mothers giving birth in Hong Kong. Leung further underlined that those who did may not be able to secure the right of abode for their offspring in Hong Kong.Luk, Eddie (17 April 2012)
"Door shuts on moms"
. ''The Standard''.

Parallel trading in Hong Kong

Since 2012, there have been more mainland parallel traders coming to the northern parts of Hong Kong to import goods and export them back to mainland, which earns them some money for each transfer. Some products that are popular among these traders, such as infant formula, faced shortage in Hong Kong for an extended time as a result. This made the government impose restrictions on the amount of milk powder exports from Hong Kong. Besides, since northern places like Sheung Shui became the transaction centres of the traders, this resulted in discontent from nearby residents."近百名人到上水示威不滿內地水貨客"
now.com. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2014.

References

External links

Hong Kong Tourism Board

Local travel guide, Home Affairs Department

Tourism Satellite Account for Inbound Tourism of Hong Kong
– Census and Statistics Department {{Hong Kong topics, state=expanded

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...