The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has announced that overnight MICE visitor arrivals to Hong Kong for the first nine months of 2011 have exceeded the one million mark for the first time ever.

The 1,028,989 figure was up 15% over the same period last year. Mainland China was the largest MICE visitor source market, recording a 19.9% increase to over 440,000.

Among all visitor source markets, greater growth was recorded in the short-haul regions, where steady economic development and appreciation of major currencies against the Hong Kong dollar encouraged MICE organisers, especially those of meetings and incentive travel, to select Hong Kong as their activity destination.

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