Hong Kong will have another 49 hotels or 9,000 additional rooms in four years, however, the supply may still be insufficient, with the tourism chief suggesting the renovation of industrial buildings to keep pace with visitor growth.

According to the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, the city is expected to have 238 hotels by 2016, 49 more than at present, with 16 of them coming on line this year. The number of hotel rooms is also expected to climb to 71,340 by that time - 9,000 more than at present.

However, the tourism commissioner has hinted that this may still be insufficient although it would be difficult to plan ahead since the government only releases land for hotel use on a year-to-year basis in line with tourism growth.

According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, a record 42 million tourists visited the city last year, up 16.5% from 2010, with mainlanders accounting for 67% of the tourist arrivals.

Tourist arrivals are anticipated to grow another 5.5% in 2012.  

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