Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in May reached 3.63 million, up 12.7 percent from a year earlier, the city's Tourism Board announced on June 25.

The growth was mainly led by the increased visitor traffic from the mainland, with overall arrivals up 19.4 percent year on year. Of these, 65 percent, or about 1.64 million, traveled under the Individual Visit Scheme, up 23 percent from May 2011.

Short-haul arrivals recorded a 0.5 percent year-on-year decrease, while long-haul arrivals increased 0.7 percent from May 2011.

Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific decreased 7.7 percent while those from North and South America grew 2.6 percent on year-on-year basis.

Statistics also showed cumulative arrivals for the first five months increased 14.8 percent to 18.7 million from a year ago.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2012)