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Hong Kong short-haul visitor arrivals drop 15% in June
Hong Kong received 3.72 million visitors in June, with non-mainland short-haul travelers down 4% and airlines cutting capacity due to higher jet fuel costs tied to the Middle East conflict.
Hong Kong’s short-haul visitor arrivals fell 15% in June even as overall traffic increased, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, which said the city welcomed 3.72 million visitors last month.
The board attributed the decline to elevated aviation fuel costs linked to the Middle East conflict, which reduced flight capacity, along with currency depreciation in key short-haul markets against the Hong Kong dollar. It said non-mainland visitors fell 4% to 837,962, while long-haul arrivals rose 16% to 277,034.
Tourism arrivals were mixed by origin, with mainland Chinese arrivals up 10% to 2.88 million but short-haul demand weakening elsewhere. SCMP Economy also noted that airlines responded by raising fares, adding surcharges, suspending routes, or trimming capacity.
SCMP Economy said Malaysia-based budget carrier AirAsia cut 10% of capacity and suspended underperforming routes during the fuel crisis, though it expects to fully restore capacity by the end of August. The outlet added that jet fuel prices have eased from an April peak but edged up again in recent weeks.