Tourists visit Tsim Sha Tsui in south China's Hong Kong on April 30, 2023. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong recorded over 10 million tourist arrivals from January to May this year, the Hong Kong Tourism Board said Thursday.

The HKTB said in a statement that the preliminary visitor arrivals for May reached 2.83 million, with a daily average of about 90,000 visitors, or equivalent to about 56 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

Of those coming from outside the mainland, 1,026,516 were short-haul visitors while 574,736 were long-haul tourists, the HKTB said

“Cumulatively, more than 10 million arrivals were recorded from January to May this year, which is about 40 percent of the pre-pandemic average,” the statement reads.

The board said the share of leisure visitors continued to grow, accounting for half of the total arrivals. From January to May, 7,957,599 visitors arrived from the Chinese mainland while 2,177,832 tourists came from other places.

Of those coming from outside the mainland, 1,026,516 were short-haul visitors while 574,736 were long-haul tourists, the HKTB said.  

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The board added that it expects that the pace of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's tourism recovery will continue to be affected by various factors, including airline capacity, the global economy, and regional tourism competition, particularly currency exchange rates.