HONG KONG - A total of 16,472,409 people visited Hong Kong in the first seven months of this year, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) said on Friday.

The preliminary number of visitor arrivals in July was about 3.6 million, an increase of 31 percent from the previous month, and about 2.97 million of them were from the Chinese mainland, according to the HKTB.

Dane Cheng, executive director of the HKTB, said that Hong Kong's tourism industry is recovering gradually. Visitor arrivals to Hong Kong have recovered the fastest in Southeast Asia, with visitor arrivals from the Philippines and Thailand each reaching more than 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels last month, followed by the mainland, which has recovered by about 70 percent.

Cheng said that the HKTB will continue to invite different groups of people to visit Hong Kong and organize flagship events to attract visitors.