January 2024 Filipino tourist arrivals in Hong Kong breach pre-pandemic numbers

This was revealed by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in a dinner reception on Wednesday.

“The close ties between Hong Kong and the Philippines have been demonstrated by the strong inbound tourist figures,” HKETO Libera Cheng said.

Cheng cited that the tourist from the Philippines contributed 25% increase to the tourism numbers of Hong Kong in January 2024.

According to the data from Hong Kong Tourism Board, the city welcomed 85,878 tourists from the Philippines in January alone. This is a 25% increase from 68,588 Filipino tourists recorded in the same period in 2019, or before the COVID-19 travel restriction was imposed.

Hong Kong only fully reopened its borders in early February last year.

To attract tourists back to their city, Hong Kong launched a giveaway of 500,000 free air tickets for tourists last year. It also offered “Hong Kong Goodies” or visitor consumption vouchers containing a complimentary drink or a cash voucher redeemable at transportation, culinary, retail outlets and attractions.

Jack So, chairman of Airport Authority Hong Kong, last year said that the promotion was eyed to generate a “multiplier effect on boosting air traffic and enormous publicity for Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong International Airport is one of the major international aviation hubs globally.

In 2023, Hong Kong registered almost 34 million tourists, according to HKTB.

This was over 5,000% increase from the 604,564 tourist arrivals in 2022.

This is still, however, far from the pre-pandemic figures of almost 56 million tourists registered in 2019.

Meanwhile, of the 34 million tourists in 2023, 763,778 are from the Philippines. This was 12% lower from 2019’s 875,897 Filipino visitors in Hong Kong.

HKETO’s Cheng said they are grateful for Filipinos who continue to visit and explore Hong Kong. They are hoping to attract more tourists this year. — Rosette Adel