2024-04-02 13:21:00
Hong Kong residents are keen to go north for consumption following the epidemic. During the Easter holiday that just passed, more than 1.9 million Hong Kong people went to the mainland, but only regarding 500,000 tourists entered Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s catering and retail businesses are complaining, saying that this year’s Easter holiday business has dropped by 20 to 30% compared to previous years.
Scholars interviewed believe that in recent years, the travel mode of mainland tourists to Hong Kong has changed from consumption-based to check-in and in-depth travel. The authorities and industry players must start from the tourist experience to construct a new tourism model rich in Hong Kong cultural characteristics.
Hong Kong’s Easter holiday ended on April 1. Preliminary data from the Immigration Department showed that as of 9 p.m. on the 1st, Hong Kong residents traveled abroad for more than 2.27 million times during the five-day holiday, of which more than 1.9 million went to the mainland, but only 490,000 tourists entered Hong Kong. 8,000 visitors.
Hong Kong’s “Toutiao Daily” website reported on Tuesday that many shops in Shenzhen did good business during the Easter period as a large number of Hong Kong people went to Shenzhen for consumption. Jinguanghua Plaza, which is only one stop away from Luohu Port, is crowded with people, and almost every restaurant is full during dinner time.
A person in charge of a restaurant revealed that during the long holiday, the restaurant’s business doubled. After the epidemic, Hong Kong people have become the main source of customers. The restaurant will adjust its purchase volume based on whether Hong Kong people are on holiday.
Shenzhen shopping malls are prospering, but Hong Kong merchants on the other side are complaining. Qiu Jinrong, honorary president of the Hong Kong Rice Miao Catering Professional Association, pointed out that business during this year’s Easter holiday dropped by 20 to 30% compared with previous years. He said that the market is booming during the holidays, which is a time for “making money” (making money), but the entire store only has two or three tables of customers this year.
Legislator Tian Beichen, who is engaged in the clothing retail business, also said that his clothing brand company’s sales during the Easter holiday fell by 14% year-on-year, and sales in the same period last year also fell by 14% year-on-year.
He described the company’s business as “double-year decline” which is rare, reflecting Hong Kong people’s strong desire to travel following normalcy returns. However, tourists visiting Hong Kong have not been able to fill the customer base, and Hong Kong seems to have lost its attractiveness.
As the consumption boom of Hong Kong people going north continues, it has severely damaged Hong Kong’s retail and catering businesses. There has been a wave of store closures in various districts recently. The number of followers of the Facebook group “Hong Kong Store Closing News Concern Group” on the social platform has recently increased from regarding 5,000 to more than 190,000 in just a few days. Some owners and businessmen expressed their voices in the group. Some of them were disillusioned with Hong Kong’s retail industry and planned to start a business in Shenzhen.
In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Cai Sixing, a lecturer in the Department of General Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, pointed out that in the past year, Hong Kong people have become popular in traveling northward for travel and consumption, mainly because the transportation between mainland and Hong Kong has become increasingly convenient and costs have reduced. In addition, the prices of goods and services in different major provinces and cities in mainland China are much cheaper than those in Hong Kong. In addition, the service level is good, which attracts many Hong Kong people to go north to experience it.
Cai Sixing said that in the past, mainland people traveling to Hong Kong mainly focused on consumption, buying daily necessities, cosmetics and luxury goods. However, three years following the epidemic, mainland people have become accustomed to online shopping and do not have the same rigid demand for luxury goods as before. Therefore, the current travel mode of mainland tourists to Hong Kong has changed from consumption-based to check-in and in-depth travel.
He believes that the authorities and industry players must start from the tourist experience and reconstruct a new tourism experience that is rich in Hong Kong’s cultural characteristics and cost-effective in order to continue to attract mainland tourists.
Hong Kong’s “Ming Pao” disclosed on Tuesday that some Hong Kong developers had earlier requested the central government through different channels to follow the practices of Singapore and Malaysia and allow mainland tourists to come to Hong Kong visa-free to increase the flow of tourists. However, sources familiar with the situation in the mainland believe that the central government will definitely not introduce visa-free measures for mainland tourists to visit Hong Kong, because from the perspective of Hong Kong’s system and geographical restrictions, Hong Kong cannot withstand a large number of mainland tourists flocking to Hong Kong, and they are worried that it will This resulted in a new round of conflicts between the two places.
Sources believe that Hong Kong should study the development of high-end tourism to attract high-spending tourists from mainland China and foreign countries to Hong Kong, and should not just pursue passenger flow. On this issue, Hong Kong’s political and business circles have been fighting for the tax-free limit for mainland tourists to shop in Hong Kong to be increased from 5,000 yuan (S$953) to 30,000 yuan. It is estimated that the central government will allow it, but it is unknown when it will be announced.
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