Visitors arrivals in Hong Kong inApril 2002 hit new record at 1,403,041, representing a 19 percent increase on the same month in 2001, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) announced Wednesday.

HKTB said the strong growth was mainly driven by a surge in thenumber of visitors from the Chinese mainland.

The mainland arrivals in April totaled 525,498, up 64.8 percentfrom the same month last year.

This is the first time the mainland, or indeed any single market, has contributed more than half-a-million visitors in one month.

For the first four months of the year to date, total arrivals stand at 4,996,653, a 14.2 increase on the same period in 2001, with some 38 percent from the mainland.

( Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2002)