Hong Kong  - Hong Kong saw a 1.1-per-cent fall in visitor arrivals in November as the global economic slump took its toll on the holiday industry, officials said Thursday.

The former British colony saw 2.42 million tourists arrive in the month, 1.1 per cent less than November 2007, the Hong Kong Tourism Board said.

Total visitor arrivals in Hong Kong for the first 11 months of the year were 26.7 million, 5.3 per cent more than over the same period last year.

However, the city of 6.9 million now looks certain to fall short of its beginning-of-year target of a record 30 million visitor arrivals in 2008.

Hong Kong welcomed a record 28 million visitors in 2007, more than half of them from mainland China, which substantially eased cross- border travel restrictions in 2003.

On his annual duty visit to Beijing last week, Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang won a promise from Chinese leaders to allow more mainland visitors to Hong Kong to boost the city' tourism sector. (dpa)