HONG KONG -- Hong Kong recorded around 45 million visits in 2024, up 31 percent year-on-year, showed preliminary statistics released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board on Wednesday.

In December alone, Hong Kong registered nearly 4.26 million visits, up 8 percent year-on-year, the tourism board said.

The Chinese mainland remains the largest source of visitors to Hong Kong, with approximately 34 million visits made in 2024, up 27 percent year-on-year and accounting for about three-quarters of the total visits, the board said, adding that the Chinese New Year, May Day holiday, and the National Day Golden Week saw strong visitor figures from the Chinese mainland.

Visits from elsewhere topped 10.5 million in 2024, up 44 percent year-on-year, the board said. With boosting airline capacity, the number of non-mainland visits exceeded 1 million in November and December. Overnight stays constituted half of the total visits, with an average stay of 3.2 nights.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government last month released the Development Blueprint for Hong Kong's Tourism Industry 2.0 (Blueprint 2.0), aimed at developing a diversified portfolio of visitor source markets for Hong Kong, with a focus on attracting high-value-added overnight visitors.

Dane Cheng, executive director of the tourism board, said that over the past year, the board has been committed to organizing and promoting major events in Hong Kong to enhance visitor experience and will continue to strengthen its marketing and promotion for targeted global visitors.