Tourist arrivals to Hong Kong grew to 2.1 million in March, up 14.8 percent on the same month last year, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) said on Friday.

The HKTB said the growth was led by the nearly 1.13 million arrivals from the Chinese mainland, 20.7 percent more than the same month last year. Over 45 percent of the Chinese mainland visitors in March opted to travel under the Individual Visit Scheme, 28.6 percent more than last year.

Growth in the first three months brought total arrivals to 6.2 million, up 13.8 percent on last year. Of the March arrivals, 61.2 percent were classified as overnight visitors, with the remaining 38.8 percent as same-day arrivals.

The Tourism Board said this high percentage of same-day, in-town visitors reflects both Hong Kong's status as the region's leading aviation hub and a preference for short consumption visits among increasing numbers of Chinese mainland consumers, many of whom are taking advantage of the ease and flexibility of travel offered by the Individual Visit Scheme.

Aside from the Mainland, the best-performing regional markets in March were North Asia, with 15 percent growth, and South and Southeast Asia, from which visitor numbers grew 10.3 percent.

While all other regions also showed increases, the relatively soft performance from some key long-haul markets illustrates concerns over avian flu during the winter months that affected forward bookings and hence visitor arrivals in March.

Hotel occupancy across all categories of hotels and tourist guesthouses was 91 percent, a six percentage-point rise compared on the 2005 figure. The growth was achieved in spite of a 3.8 percent increase in Hong Kong's hotel room supply during the past year.