Hong Kong is the top choice among popular overseas destinations for Beijing tourists.

Director of Beijing's Tourism Bureau Yu Changjiang revealed this yesterday.

Apart from Hong Kong, Beijing residents favour Thailand and Macao.

He said Beijing citizens' average travel spending per person exceeded 2,600 yuan (US$314) last year, as consumer sentiment steadily improved.

Yu said he expects this upward trend to continue as more travel destinations become accessible to mainland residents.

Joseph Tung, executive director of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, said this is a testament to Hong Kong's unique appeal as an international city and a shopping paradise for mainland tourists.

"Travellers from the mainland have told me that Hong Kong is a place that they must visit at least once as it is now part of the motherland and the most cosmopolitan Chinese city," Tung told China Daily.

Tung said he is confident that the territory will be able to maintain its position as a top destination for mainland tourists.

"The government and the industry will allocate resources to maintain high standards in tourist-related services to ensure that tourists will continue to give Hong Kong preference as a travel destination," he stressed.

Meanwhile, Secretary for Economic Development and Labour Stephen Ip said he expects the total number of visitors to the territory this year to exceed the government's previous prediction of 20 million.

Ip expressed optimism about mainland visitor numbers and expects long-haul travellers to the territory to increase.

As a complement to the extension of the individual tourist scheme to more mainland cities and provinces - including Fujian and Jiangsu - the local tourist industry will launch a series of new travel programmes, with enhanced services and manpower deployed to hotels and customs checkpoints.

Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong totalled 15.5 million last year, down 6.2 per cent from a year earlier under the impact of the SARS outbreak in the first half, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

But mainland tourists grew 24 per cent to 8.5 million as several mainland cities relaxed control of their residents travelling to the territory since the second half of last year.

(HK Edition 07/03/2004 page2)