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The HKSAR maintains a liberal visa policy for visitors. People from
more than 170 countries and territories may come to the HKSAR visa-free
for visits ranging from seven to 180 days. Passenger traffic dropped slightly
in 2003 with 153 million people moving in and out of the HKSAR, representing
a decrease of 5.6 per cent when compared with 162 million in 2002. The
drop was mainly attributable to the outbreak of SARS in March. A total
of 115.5 million land passengers and 13.1 million vehicular movements
were recorded in 2003, representing a decrease of 1.8 per cent and an
increase of 5.6 per cent over the figures of 2002 — 117.6 million
and 12.4 million, respectively.
The number of visitors travelling to the HKSAR decreased
from 16.57 million in 2002 to 15.54 million in 2003, down 6.2 per cent.
These included 8.47 million from the Mainland and 1.85 million from Taiwan. |
