Hong Kong arrivals down 90 per cent for 10 straight months

It has been a year to forget for Hong Kong’s embattled tourism sector perhaps more than any other major destination.

It just marked its tenth successive month with tourist arrivals down by more than 90%, according to data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Arrivals to Hong Kong in November were down 99.8% to just under 6,000.

In the 11 months year to date, it has welcomed just 3.5 million visitors, an overall decline of 93.2%.

The pandemic forced the HKTB to cancel the annual New Year fireworks display and the Chinese Lunar New Year parade.

Hong is in its fourth wave of the Covid pandemic with daily infections above 100 in early December.

It marks a sharp reversal for the destination which was the world’s most visited tourist city last year, according to Euromonitor, even though it was beset by pro-democracy protests for several months.

Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor