Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in April totaled 1,736,496, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) said here Tuesday.

Compared with the result for April 2003, when tourism was severely affected by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak, this represents a remarkable year-on-year increase of 251.8 percent. A fairer comparison with the 2002 figures nevertheless confirms that the recovery remains well on track, with April 2004 arrivals standing at 23.8 percent above those of April 2002.

For the first four months of 2004 combined, total arrivals stand at 6.67 million, a 39.1 percent increase over the same period in 2003 and a 33.5 percent increase on the 2002 figure.

HKTB Executive Director Clara Chong said that the figures kept Hong Kong well on track to meet its target of 20.5 million arrivals.

"Arrivals are now consistently ahead of pre-SARS levels in Australia, Europe and Southeast Asia, while the Chinese mainland market continues to grow strongly, boosted by the Individual Visit Scheme," she said. "We are also encouraged to see that only a small gap remains to be bridged in North America."

"The recovery is taking a little longer to achieve in Taiwan and North Asia, but in the latter case we are anticipating arrivals from Japan to pick up soon, following a very positive trade and consumer response to the Finding New Hong Kong booster campaign that we launched in this market in April," Chong said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2004)