International visitor arrivals have recovered to 67 per cent of the 2019 level, totalling some 1.17 million, 1.5 times more than there were a year ago.
According to a Friday update from the Statistics and Census Service, a total of 16.72 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half, suggesting an increase of 43.6 per cent.
That figure accounts for 82.4 per cent of the 2019 level, with 46.8 per cent of the total having spent more than one night in the city, up 29 per cent year on year.
The overnight tourists spent an average of 2.3 days.
69 per cent of the total came from mainland China, with those from the 10 new additions to the Individual Visit Scheme saw a year-on-year rise of 31.8 per cent to 5,950,165.
Below is a year-on-year breakdown of the international tourism pie:
Southeast Asia
The Philippines: 234,336, up 105.1 per cent
Indonesia: 91,953, up 58.2 per cent
Malaysia: 85,122, up 199.9 per cent
Thailand: 74,420, up 146.7 per cent
East Asia
South Korea: 231,859, up 400.4 per cent
Japan: 61,870, up 178.7 per cent
North America
United States: 69,566, up 129.4 per cent
On a recent occasion, Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Tourism Office, expressed optimism over the possibility of surpassing the full-year target of 33 million.
