HK international Passenger Arrivals record Strong Growth

Destinations in Asia/Pacific, including Hong Kong, are key players in the movement of the world economy, according to the MasterCard Index of Global Destination Cities released today.
The results indicate that Hong Kong ranks fifth globally and third in Asia/Pacific, behind Bangkok and Singapore, among the top 201cities by international arrivals. Hong Kong is projected to have 10.9 million visitors in 2011, or a 17.4% year-on-year increase. Hong Kong also displays strong growth in visitor spending in 2011. The city ranks tenth in the world and fourth in Asia/Pacific with US$10.4 billion expected to be spent by inbound passengers in 2011, a growth forecast of 23.6%. Hong Kong was slightly behind Singapore (23.9%) and Shanghai (24.3%) in terms of visitor expenditure growth rate.

“Hong Kong shows robust growth with increases in both visitor arrivals and cross-border expenditure. This kind of growth pattern strongly suggests that destination cities like Hong Kong will continue to grow in importance,” observed Jeroen van Son, Head of Hong Kong and Macau, MasterCard Worldwide. Asia/Pacific cities lead the charge globally, home to eight of the top 20 cities by international arrivals, with Bangkok ranked third, projected to have 11.5 million visitors this year, followed by Singapore in fourth place with 11.4 million visitors and Hong Kong fifth with 10.9 million visitors. Asia also displays strong visitor growth for 2011 with Kuala Lumpur ranked second in the world with a 21.8% growth forecast and Shanghai fourth with 18.6%. Beijing, which was not part of the global Top 20, also showed significant growth of international arrivals with 20.2%, placing it above Shanghai in the Asia/Pacific region. The region also performs well in visitor spending with Bangkok ranked fourth globally with US$14.4 billion expected to be spent by inbound passengers in 2011; Sydney sixth with US$13.8 billion, Singapore ninth with US$10.8 billion.

Chinese cities show prominent visitor growth Beijing and Shanghai ranked second and third regionally in terms of visitor growth, with growth rates estimated at 20.2% and 18.6% respectively, reflecting their rising popularity as China’s most important destination cities. Shanghai also ranks second in the region for growth in visitor expenditures with 24.3%. Taipei records significant visitor growth Taipei is ranked seventh in the Asia/Pacific region with 5.4 million visitors and US$8.5 billion expected to be spent by inbound passengers in 2011.

The MasterCard Worldwide Index of Global Destination Cities is compiled using international flight and flight capacity information purchased from OAG Global, a provider of international aviation data. Flight schedules are also used for calculating flight frequency between pairs of cities. Airlines also publish on a regular basis their historical load factor, and advance flight schedules, which are then used to estimate the actual outbound passenger departures, and for forecasting outbound passenger departures in the coming year.