Hong Kong

The International Passenger Survey (IPS) was suspended on 16 March 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic until the start of 2021. The ONS have made every effort to produce high-quality estimates for the periods when IPS data is not being collected but have not been able to produce a full set of results. See the 2020 inbound page for more information.

The 2021 data is ‘incomplete’ as Eurotunnel data was unavailable for Q1 to Q3 but modelled for Q4. In addition, interviewing at Dover restarted from Q3 2021 and pseudo records for the Irish land border were also removed in 2021. More info can be found on the 2021 inbound page.

For 2022, Eurotunnel data was modelled for the first half of the year and the latest data can be found on the monthly and quarterly pages. Interviewing at Eurostar was not affected by Covid-19 restrictions in 2021 or the first half of 2022. The ONS restarted IPS interviews at all ports from July 2022.

Due to the above, the latest full year IPS data below is from 2019.

Visitor characteristics

In 2019, 17% of visits from Hong Kong were made by British passport holders and 64% by Hong Kong nationals
Just above half holidays visitors (excluding British expats) were making a repeat trip to Britain in 2015 (within 10 years, 53%)
Departing visitors from Hong Kong (excluding British expats) are less likely to recommend Britain: only 76% of them are 'extremely' likely to recommend Britain against 82% for the all-market average

Popular activities

Dining in a restaurant

Visited a Pub

Went Shopping

Global context


Measure	2019
International tourism expenditure (US$bn)	26.9
Global rank for international tourism expenditure	13
Number of outbound visits (m)	36.5
Number of outbound visits excl. China and Macao (m)	8.0
Most visited destination	China
Most visited destination (excl. China and Macao)	Japan
Most visited destination in Western Europe	United Kingdom

Key demographic and economic data


Measure	2021
Population (m)	7.6
GDP per capita PPP (US$)	58,082
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%)	1.6
Annual GDP growth (%)	6.4

Hong Kong Market Profile (PDF, 4.8 MB)

Hong Kong Market Snapshot (PDF, 780KB)

Hong Kong Aviation Profile (PDF, 203KB)

Exchange rate

1 GBP = 9.6788 HKD

As of 25 January 2023

Retrieved from the Bank of England

Inbound visits to Britain from Hong Kong

Applied filters:

Display:

Drag to change year on charts and tables.

Touch the data points to see the values.

OVERVIEW OF UK VISITOR STATISTICS {{activeYear.name}}

Number of visits

{{ totalVisitsPerc == 'Infinity' ? '-' : totalVisitsPerc >= 0 ? '+' + totalVisitsPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' : totalVisitsPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' }}

{{item.name}} {{item.data | fixUnits}}

Total expenditure (GBP)

{{ totalSpendPerc == 'Infinity' ? '-' : totalSpendPerc >= 0 ? '+' + totalSpendPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' : totalSpendPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' }}

{{item.name}} {{item.data | spendUnits}}

Total nights spent

{{ totalNightsPerc == 'Infinity' ? '-' : totalNightsPerc >= 0 ? '+' + totalNightsPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' : totalNightsPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' }}

{{item.name}} {{item.data | fixUnits}}

Average length of stay (Nights)

{{ isNaN(avgStayPerc) ? '-' : avgStayPerc >= 0 ? '+' + avgStayPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' : avgStayPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' }}

{{item.name}} {{item.data.toFixed(2)}}

Average spend per visit (GBP)

{{ isNaN(avgSpendPerc) ? '-' : avgSpendPerc >= 0 ? '+' + avgSpendPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' : avgSpendPerc.toFixed(2) + '%' }}

{{item.name}} {{item.data | spendUnits(0, 'hideUnit')}}

* Change from {{Number(activeYear.name) - 1}}

Chart
Table

	{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[1].name}}		{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[0].name}}
	Visits	% total	Visits	% total
{{item}}	{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[1].data[index] \| fixUnits(2)}}	{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[1].totalPerc[index]}} %	{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[0].data[index] \| fixUnits(2, 'showDigits')}}	{{seasonalityBox.visits.data[0].totalPerc[index]}} %

Chart
Table

		{{journeyBox.visits.data[1].name}}				{{journeyBox.visits.data[0].name}}
	Visits	% total	Nights	% total	Visits	% total	Nights	% total
{{item}}	{{journeyBox.visits.data[1].data[index] \| fixUnits(2)}}	{{journeyBox.visits.data[1].totalPerc[index]}} %	{{journeyBox.nights.data[1].data[index] \| fixUnits(2)}}	{{journeyBox.nights.data[1].totalPerc[index]}} %	{{journeyBox.visits.data[0].data[index] \| fixUnits(2, 'showDigits')}}	{{journeyBox.visits.data[0].totalPerc[index]}} %	{{journeyBox.nights.data[0].data[index] \| fixUnits(2, 'showDigits')}}	{{journeyBox.nights.data[0].totalPerc[index]}} %

Chart
Table

	{{durationBox.visits.data[1].name}}		{{durationBox.visits.data[0].name}}
	Visits	% total	Visits	% total
{{item}}	{{durationBox.visits.data[1].data[index] \| fixUnits(2)}}	{{durationBox.visits.data[1].totalPerc[index]}} %	{{durationBox.visits.data[0].data[index] \| fixUnits(2, 'showDigits')}}	{{durationBox.visits.data[0].totalPerc[index]}} %

What Hong Kong citizens think about Britain

When asked how well they feel they know some destinations, overseas travellers from Hong Kong are more likely to say that they feel they know ‘a great deal’ or ‘a fair amount’ about Britain as a destination, than they do about France, Italy, the US, or Australia
Hong Kong respondents also tend to rate Britain highest for its rich, interesting history and heritage, followed by the fact that it has much to explore outside of its capital/main city
Its rich sporting offer and its mixed offer of old and new are also well scored by Hong Kongers
Britain is seen as more ‘cosmopolitan’ than leading competitor destinations, but is outperformed in terms of associations with attributes such as ‘colourful’, ‘vibrant’ and ‘fun’
Competitor destinations are more highly associated with offering ‘value’ than is Britain, but the latter is ranked second amond destinations they would like to visit, if cost was no issue

Caring for visitors

The family is the most important part of life; this cultural value of togetherness impacts on travel behaviour
Visitors from Hong Kong are more likely than average to use a credit card while in Britain
Some travellers may prefer modern accomodation options to traditional, or quintessially British ones
Hong Kong citizens love food and are adventurous in tasting local cuisine and produce

The leisure & travel trade

There are over 1,400 tour operators and travel agencies in Hong Kong, but around 20 dominate the market
Details of updated product and packages should be sent to the Hong Kong trade by December
Using English as the language for meetings and correspondence is normally not a problem

Access to Britain from Hong Kong


Measure	2019
Weekly aircraft departures	68
Weekly seat capacity	21,695
Airports with direct routes in Hong Kong	1
Airports with direct routes in Britain	3

In 2019, Hong Kong airport served 3 British airports: London Heathrow, London Gatwick and Manchester International
Visitors to Britain who are Hong Kong citizens do not need a visa to visit Britain
In 2019, the highest rate of flight departures took place in July and August
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 65% reduction in direct seat capacity from Hong Kong to the UK in 2020, and 2021 was 70% behind pre-COVID levels
Those departing Britain for Hong Kong by air, pay £84 in Air Passenger Duty in economy class

Markets

Hong Kong