The visitors arrival in November set another record for Hong Kong by topping the 1.69 million mark in the same month last year by more than 260,000 or 15.8 percent, the Hong Kong Tourism Board said Thursday.

There were some 19 million arrivals in the first 11 months of the year, a 43.5 percent increase on the same period in 2003 and 32.4 percent growth on the 2002 figure.

Since then, the 20-million landmark was reached on Dec. 5. It looks certain that total arrivals for 2004 will surpass the Board's target of 21.36 million.

A number of important source markets have already passed their best ever full-year performances, including South Korea, Australia, India and South Africa. Arrivals from the United States and New Zealand are also on track to reach all-time records by the end of December, according to the Board.

The Board's Executive Director Clara Chong said that December arrivals looked likely to be even higher than those of November.

"There will understandably be some immediate postponements of vacations in the region, but it's too early to assess the longer-term implications," she added.

All market regions except Chinese Taiwan showed double-digit growth over their November 2003 performance. Arrivals from Chinese mainland grew 11.9 percent, passing the million mark for the fourth time in five months to reach some 1 million. This included 0.37 million arrivals under the Individual Visit Scheme, 36.2 percent of the total.

In the first 11 months of 2004, Hong Kong welcomed some 11 million mainland arrivals, 49.1 percent more than for the same period in 2003. Of these, 3.78 million have arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme, 34 percent of the total.

(Xinhua New Agency December 31, 2004)