HONG KONG - Hong Kong recorded 58.47 million tourist arrivals in 2017, up 3.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) on Tuesday.

This is the first growth since 2015. Tourist arrivals in Hong Kong dropped 2.5 percent in 2015 and 4.5 percent in 2016.

It also beat the original forecast made by the HKTB in February 2017 that tourists would drop 2.2 percent in 2017.

Among the total tourist arrivals in Hong Kong in 2017, 44.45 million are from the Chinese mainland, up 3.9 percent year on year. Those not from the Chinese mainland hit 14.03 million, up 1.1 percent year on year.

Nearly 27.88 million stayed overnight, up 5 percent year on year, including 18.52 million from the Chinese mainland, up 6.7 percent and those not from the Chinese mainland stood at 9.36 million, up 1.9 percent.

These statistics are quite positive, indicating Hong Kong's tourism is recovering and will boost retail and hotel industries, said professor Song Haiyan of Hong Kong Polytechnic University's school of hotel and tourism management.