Some 725,236 visitors came to Hong Kong in June, a huge improvement on the 67.9% shortfall recorded in May.

The figure shows Hong Kong is well on the way to recovery from the ill effects of the SARS outbreak on tourism.

However, it still represents a drop of 38.2% compared with the same month last year.

Arrivals from the Mainland grew 11% for the month, totalling 470,562 compared with 423,763 recorded in June last year.

The Mainland has been one of the earliest markets to recover since a ban on outbound tours from Guangdong was lifted at the beginning of June, although bans on tours from other provinces were not lifted until July 9.

HK Tourism Board Deputy Executive Director Grace Lee said there was still a long way to go before arrivals returned to pre-SARS levels, but the trend now looked very encouraging.

Following the launch of the two-month HK Welcomes You! promotion on July 13, she is confident the recovery will gain further momentum.

Mrs Lee said 20,000 bookings had been received for the Buy One, Get One Free package in Taiwan in one week, while a consumer contest to win free tickets in the US and Canada has drawn more than 10,000 entries.

"In total, 15 airlines, over 100 travel agencies and all the major hotels in Hong Kong are working with us worldwide to put together special packages," she said.