HONG KONG RESTAURANT RECEIPTS DROP 10% OVER MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL AS RESIDENTS HEAD ACROSS BORDER

Hong Kong restaurant receipts over Mid-Autumn Festival dropped 10 per cent from a year ago as residents headed across the border, but a tourism industry veteran expressed optimism that the coming National Day holiday would bring in mainland Chinese tourists.

Simon Wong Ka-wo, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said on Wednesday that catering businesses saw a 10 to 15 per cent decline during the Mid-Autumn Festival period, compared with last year.

“The main reason is that a large number of Hong Kong residents travel to the mainland, or spend the long weekend in other Chinese cities or Southeast Asia,” he told a radio show.

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“There is a huge and obvious gap in the number of departures compared to the number of arrivals.”

According to data from the Immigration Department, more than 818,000 Hong Kong residents left the city between Sunday and Tuesday, with 88 per cent of the trips made through land border crossings to the mainland.

The city only received 440,800 visitors over the three days.

“With the economic slump, most restaurants do not increase their prices, while some have even offered discounts to attract customers,” he said.

He noted that a banquet package for 12 diners would cost around HK$5,000 (US$642) in the past, but now some restaurants offered discounted sets at HK$4,500, cutting their earnings by 10 per cent.

While a drone show in Wan Chai, lantern displays at Victoria Park and Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance lit up the atmosphere in the city, Wong said only eateries near Victoria Harbour benefited from the increased human traffic.

Timothy Chui Ting-bong of the Hong Kong Tourism Association said he observed huge crowds in the main tourist area of Tsim Sha Tsui over the past few days, adding the city’s festivities had successfully attracted mainland visitors.

The number of hotel bookings had been “ideal”, while those along Victoria Harbour could charge higher prices, Chui told the same radio show.

Chui remained optimistic about mainland tourist receipts in the coming eight-day National Day “golden week” holiday from October 1 to 7.

“Hotel prices have increased by 10 per cent, while 70 to 80 per cent of hotel rooms have already been booked,” he said.

He was confident that the holiday would attract mainland visitors, including those from northern China, with the National Day fireworks over Victoria Harbour on October 1 being the main highlight.

“Watching the fireworks in Hong Kong can be their first stop of a tour around the Greater Bay Area,” he said.

Wong from the catering sector said he expected about 300 mainland tour groups would visit the city every day during the “golden week”, twice the usual number, but believes that their average spending power decreased by 20 per cent, compared with pre-pandemic levels.

“Local customers make up 90 per cent of the catering industry’s business, the October 1 holiday is another chance for Hongkongers to take a long holiday to travel to the mainland or head overseas,” he said.

“The most important thing is to attract local consumers to stay in town.”

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2024-09-18T05:07:51Z dg43tfdfdgfd