Hong Kong recorded a year-on-year growth of 5.6 percent in visitor arrivals in June, the local Tourism Board said on Thursday.

Visitor arrivals totaled 2.15 million for the month, bringing the total for the first half of the year to 14.2 million, which represented a growth of 8.9 percent from the same period last year.

The half-year performance was on track, said James Tian, chairman of the Tourism Board, adding that the board remained "cautiously optimistic" on the outlook.

"Eyeing the pent-up demand and the sustained China fever post- Olympics, the board is working with travel-trade partners in various long-haul markets to develop inland-Hong Kong combo packages for capturing the visitor traffic," he said.

Robust performance continued in high-potential and emerging markets in the first six months, including South Korea, India and Russia. Growth was also found in arrivals from the Chinese mainland, North Asia, South and Southeast Asia, among others.

Hotel occupancy across Hong Kong in first half was 83 percent, same as last year. In June hotel occupancy was 81 percent, one percentage point lower than last June.

(Xinhua News Agency August 1,2008)