Hong Kong receives 4.3 lakh visitors from India in 2013, a 5% increase over last year

NEW DELHI: Based on the arrival figures recently announced by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), arrivals reached a record high of 54.3 million, an 11.7% year-on-year increase. Hong Kong has seen a surge of travellers from emerging markets like India, Russia and Vietnam in 2013. Arrivals from these markets as a whole are up 8% as compared to 2012.

India is the largest new tourist market in Hong Kong and has seen a year-on-year increase of around 5% from 2012 with a total of 4,34,648 arrivals. These figures were achieved through an increase of short-haul arrivals by 3.4% and overnight arrivals by 5.8%.

Anthony Lau, executive director, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), said in recent years, the board has increased investments to develop new markets in order to broaden their visitor base. "The HKTB’s primary target cities are Mumbai and New Delhi, though resources will also be deployed in cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad," he says.

In FY2013-14, HKTB unveiled various promotional campaigns for the Indian market including commissioning a novel, ‘Hold My Hand’ by Indian author, Durjoy Datta.