Popular destination for Indonesians<\/p>\n
Although many Indonesian tourists are choosing to spend their
\nholidays in Europe or Japan, Hong Kong is still one of the most
\npopular tourist destinations for Indonesians.<\/p>\n
The number of Indonesian tourists visiting Hong Kong continues
\nto increase from year to year, albeit not significantly. And
\ntourist arrivals to Hong Kong from Indonesia have remained stable
\nin recent months despite the fact that the overall economic
\ncondition of Indonesia has remained bleak.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesian tourists keep coming. Our company books at least
\n1,000 hotel rooms every day for them,\" said Willy Fung, the tour
\ncoordinator at the Hong Kong-based Southsea Tourist Ltd.<\/p>\n
Willy, who acts as a tour guide for Indonesian tourists, has
\nseen no significant change in the flow of Indonesian tourists to
\nHong Kong since the financial crisis hit Indonesian in late 1997.<\/p>\n
The crisis, which significantly reduced the value of the
\nIndonesian rupiah against foreign currencies, seems to have had
\nlittle impact on the number of Indonesian tourists arriving in
\nHong Kong.<\/p>\n
According to the latest data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board
\n(HKTB), the number of Indonesian tourist arrivals in Hong Kong
\nwas 223,590 in 2002, an increase of 5.3 percent from 212,260 in
\n2001. In December, the number of Indonesian tourists totaled
\n48,344, a 1.7 percent increase from December last year.<\/p>\n
Total tourist arrivals in Hong Kong reached 16.5 million in
\n2002, an increase of 20.7 percent from the 13.73 million visitors
\nwelcomed in 2001.<\/p>\n
New tourist records were set almost every month as 2002
\nprogressed, and December proved to be no exception. Lured by the
\nvaried attractions of HKTB's Hong Kong WinterFest and other
\nseasonal activities, a total of 1.66 million visitors arrived in
\nHong Kong during December, comfortably breaking the previous
\nmonthly record of 1.58 million set just two months earlier.<\/p>\n
Including the first five days of January, more than 1.9
\nmillion visitors came to Hong Kong during the five-week Hong Kong
\nWinterFest (Dec. 1 to Jan. 5) -- a result comfortably exceeding
\nHKTB's original target of 1.7 million. Year-on-year growth for
\nthe WinterFest period was over 28 percent.<\/p>\n
Once again, mainland China was the star performer. December
\narrivals from the mainland hit a new high for the third month in
\nsuccession, soaring 64.7 percent to 753,974. In total, mainland
\narrivals in 2002 reached 6.82 million, a remarkable 53.4 percent
\nincrease over the 2001 figure. This followed a series of visa
\nrelaxation measures agreed on by the Central Government during
\nthe year.<\/p>\n
HKTB chairman Selina Chow noted that China was the world's
\nfastest-growing travel market and Hong Kong was ideally placed to
\ncontinue benefiting from this.<\/p>\n
\"Obviously, we're delighted to see this huge growth in
\nmainland arrivals, which has come at a very opportune time for
\nHong Kong's retail and restaurant sectors,\" Chow said.<\/p>\n
\"But this shouldn't be allowed to obscure the fact that we
\nhave performed extremely well in all our other short-haul and
\nlong-haul markets, too.\"<\/p>\n
All markets recorded positive growth in 2002, and all are now
\nback to pre-Sept. 11 levels, with arrivals from the three long-
\nhaul markets all showing increases of at least 6 percent. Hong
\nKong's 2002 performance also outshone those of its regional
\ncompetitors, even though most other destinations in the region
\nalso benefited strongly from increased mainland arrivals.<\/p>\n
Chow said that China's growing attraction worldwide as an
\ninbound destination, as well as its huge potential for further
\noutbound growth, allowed great optimism for Hong Kong's continued
\nstrong performance in the years ahead.<\/p>\n
\"It's vital, however, that all sectors of the industry are
\nready and able to meet the challenges of these growing numbers in
\nterms of hotel developments, timeliness of new attractions and
\nthe general upgrading of service standards and quality,\" she
\nemphasized.<\/p>\n
All long-haul and short-haul markets showed substantial growth
\nin December 2002. Mainland China led the way with 753,974
\narrivals, a 64.7 percent increase on the December 2001 figure
\nwhich was itself a new record at that time. Arrivals from South
\nand South East Asia increased by 10.9 percent to 243,969, led by
\nIndia which recorded 24 percent growth. Taiwan contributed
\n204,841 arrivals, a 2.5 percent growth, while North Asian
\narrivals increased by 12.4 percent to 169,722, with Japan showing
\nyear-on-year growth of 14 percent.<\/p>\n
In the long-haul markets, Australia, New Zealand and South
\nPacific showed the strongest growth in December, with arrivals
\nincreasing by 16.8 percent compared with the same month in 2001,
\nto reach 39,907. Arrivals from Europe, Africa and the Middle East
\nincreased by 9.8 percent to 95,043 and those from the Americans
\nby 8.5 percent to 109,386.<\/p>\n
For the full year of 2002, the picture is again dominated by
\nmainland China which accounted for 41.2 percent of all arrivals,
\nnearly 6.83 million in total. Taiwan remained Hong Kong's second
\nlargest source market with 2.43 million arrivals, a modest 0.4
\npercent growth in a difficult year for the Taiwan economy. South
\nand Southeast Asia was third, with arrivals in 2002 growing 9.1
\npercent to 1.91 million.<\/p>\n
--Hendarsyah Tarmizi<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/popular-destination-for-indonesians-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }