Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals increased by 5.7% year-on-year to 2,501,219 in March 2017, up slightly by 0.2% month-to-month. Overnight visitors rose by 13.9% year-on-year to 1,336,384 while same-day visitors decreased by 2.4% to 1,164,835. The average length of stay of visitors remained stable as in March 2016, at 1.2 days; the average stay of overnight visitors dropped by 0.1 day to 2.1 days whereas that of same-day visitors stayed at 0.2 day.

Visitors from Mainland China increased by 11.5% year-on-year to 1,655,103 in March, with those travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (741,199) rising by 18.4%. Mainland visitors came mainly from Guangdong Province (668,681), Hunan Province (77,639) and Fujian Province (66,037). Visitors from the Republic of Korea (65,393), Japan (33,158) and Taiwan (84,347) increased by 56.9%, 19.2% and 7.5% year-on-year respectively, while those from Hong Kong (492,215) decreased by 12.6%. On the other hand, visitors from the United States (16,203) and Canada (7,519) registered increase whereas those from Australia (6,720) and the United Kingdom (4,798) decreased.

Analysed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by land went up by 5.1% year-on-year to 1,416,109, with those arriving through the Border Gate (1,237,456) rising by 3.6%. Visitor arrivals by sea increased by 4.0% year-on-year to 877,254; those disembarking at the Outer Harbour (543,756) and the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa (333,498) rose by 5.6% and 1.5% respectively. Visitor arrivals by air (207,856) increased by 18.6% year-on-year, with those arriving at the airport (206,790) rising by 18.3%.

In the first quarter of 2017, visitor arrivals totalled 7,872,461, up by 5.6% year-on-year; overnight visitors (3,931,390) rose by 12.1% while same-day visitors (3,941,071) edged down by 0.2%. The average length of stay of visitors increased by 0.1 day year-on-year to 1.2 days; the average stay of overnight visitors decreased by 0.1 day to 2.1 days whereas that of same-day visitors remained stable at 0.2 day. Visitors from Mainland China (5,317,678), the Republic of Korea (229,605) and Taiwan (225,620) increased by 7.6%, 32.0% and 1.9% respectively while those from Hong Kong (1,520,574) dropped by 2.5%. Moreover, visitors from the United States (44,122) and Canada (19,128) increased year-on-year while those from Australia (21,822) and the United Kingdom (12,928) decreased.