Hong Kong tourist numbers up, but no cash bonanza for retailers as Chinese visitors spend less and leave sooner
First three days of week-long National Day holiday saw 3.6 per cent more tourists visit than in same period last year, but ‘visitors right now are totally different from those in previous years’
The first three days of this year’s week-long National Day holiday saw 3.6 per cent more tourists visit Hong Kong than did so in the same period last year, but retailers and hoteliers have been unable to cash in on the influx because mainland visitors have been spending less and leaving sooner.
The number of mainlanders, who accounted for 81 per cent of all tourist arrivals, grew by a moderate 0.9 per cent between September 30 and October 2, according to statistics compiled by the Immigration Department.
Visitors from overseas jumped 17.1 per cent during the same period.
Tourism industry insiders said a great portion of the arrivals were day-trippers from Guangdong province and transit passengers flying to other destinations.
“The tourists in the city right now are totally different from those in previous years,” Travel Industry Council executive director Joseph Tung Yiu-chung said, because they were spending far less than overnight tourists. Tung said he expected that trend to continue.
