Hotel reservations during the Olympic equestrian event in the city have found to be less than that of the same period last year, said Tourism Board chief James Tien Monday.

According to the Hotel Association, hotel booking rate in August is only 50 percent, a drop of 10 percent compared to the same period last year.

Experience from other Olympic host cities shows there tends to be a dip in visitor number in the month of the international sporting event in the host cities, a result of potential visitors' expectation of full hotel occupancy, Tien noted.

But he is confident the city will see more hotel reservations from now until August and stressed that there are still two months to go.

Despite the grim figures, Tien anticipated a single-digit growth in hotel bookings in August. However, even a single-digit growth is slower than that in previous years.

Tien said it's still not too late for the travel industry to launch new promotions to attract more visitors.

The Tourism Board will step up its promotional campaign in South East Asia and the mainland.

According to Tien, mainland visitors have increased 25 percent over the past two weeks compared to the same time last year.

But he said the effects brought by the Sichuan earthquake on Hong Kong's visitor number in coming months remain undetermined.

Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners Executive Director Michael Li said the equestrian event will only attract the wealthy who are really interested in the sport. He expected approximately 3,000 to 5,000 visitors during the event.

Paul Leung, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Travel Agents, said there is not much that travel agents can do to boost the number of visitors as ticketing arrangement for the event remains unclear.

He demanded China Travel Service, the official ticket agent of the Beijing Olympics, elaborate on the ticketing arrangement to the industry.

Meanwhile, to boost the number of tourists in summer, the Tourism Board will launch the "Hong Kong Summer Temptations" from July 1 to September 21.

One of the new attractions this year is "Explore Hong Kong Stamp Rally" that gives visitors who manage to collect stamps from 18 designated tourist attractions a free gift sponsored by Wing Wah Cake Shop.

Another new addition to the summer program is a free guidebook which includes tips on exploring Hong Kong and discount coupons.