Hong Kong's visitor arrivals reached 2.8 million in January 2009, a year-on-year rise of 11 percent, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) said Thursday.

According to HKTB, the growth in January was driven by the Chinese mainland, as many mainland visitors traveled to Hong Kong for the Lunar New Year celebrations, which fell in the first month this year.

The mainland was the best performing market of all regions, with arrivals from there growing 31.3 percent, to 1.9 million. About 64 percent of mainland tourists arrived under the individual visit scheme, which is 45.3 percent more than in January last year.

Falls were recorded in other markets including South and Southeast Asia (-7.6 percent), North Asia (-30.3 percent), Australia, New Zealand and South Pacific (-13.6 percent), Europe, Africa and the Middle East (-24.5 percent) and the Americas (-25.2percent).

Source:Xinhua