HONG KONG, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The tourist arrivals to China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region soared to a record high of around 65.1 million in 2018, said Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) Thursday.

Data released by HKTB showed that overall tourist arrivals were 11.4 percent higher than that of 2017. Among the overall growth, visitor arrivals from the Chinese mainland saw a rise of 14.8 percent to 51 million.

With HKTB's efforts on promoting overnight tours, overnight visitor arrivals rose to 29 million, up 5 percent, said the HKTB.

Wayne Yiu, member of legislative council of HKSAR, said that Hong Kong tourism saw a flourishing year in 2018 and was expected to experience a steady development in 2019.

An increasing number of tourists traveled to Hong Kong via the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, boosting retail industry, service sector and other industry related with tourism, said Yiu.