Tourist arrivals grew to a record high of 1,742,745 in June, up 5.8 percent on the same month last year, Hong Kong Tourism Board announced Wednesday.

Growth in the first six months brought the total half-yearly arrivals to 10,978,048, up 9.6 percent on last year.

Long-haul markets continued to be the strongest performers, while most key markets registered increases.

Among the regional markets, the best performers were Europe, Africa and the Middle East with 121,759 visitors, up 37 percent on the same month last year.

Arrivals from Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific rose 33.9 percent to 55,928, followed by arrivals from North Asia with 147,898 and from the Americas with 128,866.

The Chinese mainland registered a rise of 2.1 percent to 885,596.

Tourism Board Executive Director Clara Chong said with the exceptional performances of many long- and short-haul markets, the board comfortably surpassed its half-yearly target by attracting more than 10.97 million visitors.

Occupancies for all categories of hotels and guest houses in June stood at 83 percent, a three-percentage-point drop that partially reflects the 7 percent rise in Hong Kong's room supply during the past 12 months.

The average achieved hotel room rate across all hotel categories and districts was 810 Hong Kong dollars (about 104 US dollars), which is 15.1 percent higher than in June 2004.

Average hotel occupancy for the first six months was 83 percent, two percentage points lower than the same period in 2004. The average achieved hotel room rate is 900 HK dollars (116 US dollars), 18.2 percent higher than in the first six months of 2004.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2005)