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Data released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) on Wednesday showed that the total number of tourist visits to the city rose by 10.1 percent year-on-year to hit over 30.6 million during the first half of 2018, the highest figure since 2003.

More importantly, tourists from Mainland China made around 23.67 million visits to Hong Kong during the period, a year-on-year growth of 13.4 percent.

Analysts believed that the spike in the number of mainland tourists to Hong Kong reflected a steady economic growth in the mainland.

“The number of mainland tourists has been growing since the second half of 2017 with the increase reaching 17.3 percent this June,” said Xue Junsheng, chief economist of the Hong Kong-based Hang Seng Bank. “We see this upward trend as a result of the stabilization of the mainland economy.”

He pointed out that the number of mainland tourists to Hong Kong took a tumble between 2015 and 2016 when the mainland economy entered the phase of new normal.

“The growth in the number of mainland tourists has substantially benefited Hong Kong’s economy,” said Yao Sirong, a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

According to Yao, with a booming tourism industry, the unemployment rate of the city has dropped below 2.9 percent, the lowest level for the past 20 years.

Despite the recent fluctuation of the exchange rate of the RMB against the US dollar, Yao remained optimistic about the development of Hong Kong’s tourism industry for the rest of the year. He expected the total number of tourist visits to exceed 60 million this year.