Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the Tourist Price Index (TPI) for the second quarter of 2008 was 143.55, up by 10.77% year-on-year. The price indices of Miscellaneous goods; Restaurant service; and Food, alcoholic drinks & tobacco surged significantly by 27.59%, 12.10% and 10.02% respectively. The increments were attributable to dearer jewellery prices driven by rising gold prices, higher charges of restaurant service and a general increase in the prices of food and alcoholic beverages.

On the other hand, the price index of Accommodation recorded a decrease of 2.01%, on account of lower hotel room rates due to the absence of Easter holidays that fell in the first quarter of this year and the reduced number of holidays of the Labour Day “Golden Week”.

Compared with the first quarter of 2008, TPI fell by 1.54% in this quarter, with the price index of Accommodation decreasing by 16.02%. On the contrary, the price indices of Food, alcoholic drinks & tobacco; and Clothing & footwear rose by 4.02% and 3.64% respectively.

The average TPI for the last 4 quarters ended the second quarter of 2008 increased by 11.55% over the previous period. In the first half of 2008, TPI increased by 12.90% year-on-year.

TPI reflects the price changes of goods and services purchased by visitors, which is compiled based on the consumption pattern of visitors. TPI covers 8 sections of goods and services, namely Food, alcoholic drinks & tobacco; Clothing & footwear; Accommodation; Restaurant service; Transport & communications; Medicine & personal goods; Entertainment & culture; and Miscellaneous goods. The base year of TPI is from July 1999 to June 2000.