Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that visitor arrivals increased by 9.1% year-on-year to 2,342,523 in May 2013; same-day visitors accounted for 51.7% of the total, at 1,211,591. In May 2013, visitors from Mainland China increased by 17.3% year-on-year to 1,491,231, mainly coming from Guangdong Province (643,267) and Fujian Province (67,609); Mainland visitors travelling under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) totalled 598,790. Moreover, visitors from the Republic of Korea (33,113) increased by 5.8% year-on-year, while those from Hong Kong (540,056), Taiwan, China (61,988) and the Philippines (29,231) decreased by 0.1%, 21.4% and 0.7%. Long-haul visitors from the UK (4,788) and France (3,933) increased by 14.9% and 11.3% year-on-year, whereas those from the US (14,146), Australia (8,063) and Canada (6,552) decreased by 11.6%, 2.8% and 15.3% respectively. The average length of stay of visitors held stable from a year earlier, at 1.0 day in May 2013. Overnight and same-day visitors had an average stay of 1.9 days and 0.2 day respectively. In the first five months of 2013, visitor arrivals increased by 3.0% year-on-year to 11,817,305, with same-day visitors accounting for 51.8% of the total. Visitors from Mainland China increased by 8.0% year-on-year to 7,441,687, while those from Hong Kong (2,803,049) and Taiwan, China (382,183) decreased by 3.9% and 7.8% respectively. Moreover, long-haul visitors from the US (72,768), Australia (46,833) and Canada (31,115) all registered year-on-year declines.
