Visitor arrivals in Hong Kong hit 2,518,566 in January, up 16.2% on the same month last year, with 57.2% from the Mainland, the Tourism Board says.

The Mainland continued to be the city's leading source market with arrivals growing 19.1% to 1,441,667. Among them, 833,744 or 57.8% arrived under the Individual Visit Scheme, up 28.4%.

The number of same-day Mainland visitors making short consumption visits has been growing, occupying 44.2% of Mainland arrivals in the month.

Arrivals from non-Mainland market regions also recorded a 12.6% double-digit gain. Russia surged 44.2%, South Korea grew 28.2% and the Middle East rose 22.9%.

About 59.5% of visitors stayed in the city for at least one night, which is 2.3 percentage points lower than last January. The remaining 40.5% same-day in-town visitors either returned home or left for another destination on the same day as arrival, with Taiwan topping the list at 65.9%.

The month saw 87% hotel occupancy, two percentage points higher than last January. Hotels in Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok recorded the highest occupancy rate at 91%. The average achieved hotel room rate was $1,245, up 5.7% over the same month last year.