Hong Kong leader John Lee Ka-chiu has pledged to adopt innovative thinking to make the city a “preferred travel destination”, following a 12% increase in tourist arrivals during the first half of the year.

Latest figures by the Hong Kong Tourism Board showed that the city welcomed about 3.48 million visitors in June, bringing the total number from January to June to more than 23.6 million, a 12% year-on-year increase.

Three-quarters of the arrivals, or 17.8 million, came from mainland China.

The board said on Saturday that about 5.84 million visitors arrived from the rest of the world, marking a 17% increase compared with the same period last year.

“Visitors from most short-haul markets, including Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines, increased by at least 25% year on year,” it said.

“Among long-haul markets, Australia recorded a notable growth of 33% year on year.”

In a Facebook post, Lee attributed the tourism boom partly to a string of arts, cultural and sports mega-events. He also pointed to the opening of Kai Tak Sports Park, the city’s newest hub for world-class concerts and sporting events.

“Achieving such remarkable results amid fierce competition with neighbouring regions is no small feat, reflecting Hong Kong’s appealing ‘East-meets-West’ tourism elements and its growing attractiveness in the international tourism market,” the chief executive said.

Lee also promised that his government would strive to keep its finger on the pulse of the market and adopt more “innovative thinking to make Hong Kong a preferred tourist destination”.

“We will keep creating tourist attractions and organising mega-events, offering different activities every day to attract visitors from around the world to Hong Kong,” he said.

Last year, Hong Kong received 44.5 million visitors, up 30.9% from 2023.

Roughly 76% of them arrived from the mainland. Those from other short-haul markets, excluding the mainland and Macau, grew by 53.4% year on year, while those from long-haul markets saw a 50.9% year-on-year jump in 2024.

The city welcomed a record 65 million visitors in 2018.

But the tourism sector has since been hit by Covid-19. Although inbound tourism has started to recover since the pandemic, the composition of mainland tourists has changed, with many spending less than before.

Such visitors are mostly younger, and many like to explore at their own pace.