Hong Kong welcomes million visitors from the Philippines this year, surpassing 2018 record

Visitor arrivals rose by 37 per cent in first 10 months of year compared with same period in 2023, reaching 36.7 million

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A poll by the Tourism Board found visitors from Southeast Asia typically stayed for 3.4 nights, spending about HK$7,100 per person. Photo: Jelly Tse

Published: 11:51pm, 1 Dec 2024Updated: 9:28am, 3 Dec 2024

Hong Kong has welcomed more than a million visitors from the Philippines this year, marking an annual record and surpassing the 2018 figure, with the Tourism Board noting a strong trend of Southeast Asian tourists contributing to the industry’s recovery.

The board announced on Sunday it had welcomed Filipino visitor Miguel Linao, who arrived in Hong Kong last Friday with his wife and three children, as the millionth visitor from the Philippines for this year.

“It isn’t our first visit to Hong Kong, but I didn’t expect to be the millionth Filipino visitor this year. The main purpose of our visit is to accompany our daughter to a gymnastics competition in Hong Kong and to do some sightseeing around the city,” Linao said.

“It takes only 2½ hours to travel from the Philippines to Hong Kong. We’ve often visited in the past. What we love most about Hong Kong is its delicious food and theme parks.”

Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong rose by 37 per cent in the first 10 months of the year compared with the same period in 2023, reaching 36.7 million, of which 2.3 million were from Southeast Asia, which is about 95 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

The city welcomed 920,000 Filipino tourists during the first 10 months of the year, showing a recovery of 127 per cent compared to pre-Covid levels.