Hong Kong on a budget: a travel industry expert’s top picks for low-cost mainland Chinese tours to city
- Post looks at what’s on offer from budget mainland tours to city, finds one-day, whistle-stop visits with jam-packed itineraries
- Expert says mainland tours should get ‘gritty’ and take visitors to areas offering traditional snacks and authentic ‘down to earth’ cuisine
A search of mainland e-commerce platform Taobao, dubbed the country’s eBay, for 500 yuan tours to Hong Kong brought up dozens of similar budget options – a day trip to the city with a packed itinerary.
Taobao is operated by the Alibaba Group, which owns the South China Morning Post.
Most sites are free to visit, while some, such as the Peak Tram and the Observation Wheel, charge for usage.
The time spent at each of the attractions, except the Peak Tram, on budget tours is 30 minutes or less and a 60 yuan lunch is included.
Other costs, such as snacks, drinks and mobile roaming sim cards, are excluded from the deals.
“The government wants Hong Kong to be the cultural capital of Asia,” said Paul Chan Chi-yuen, the co-founder and CEO of Walk in Hong Kong, a tourism firm providing a walking tour experience.
“We should attract tourists with our art scene, our community and our culture, but these low-cost tours fail to do that.”
Hong Kong mainland Chinese tour group data shows visitor trends and preferences
There were 9,674 mainland tour visits between February 6 and May 7, with 86 per cent of them involving one to two days in the city. About 47 per cent of the tours spent two days in Hong Kong and 39 per cent were in the city for one day only.
There were 3,183 mainland tour groups that visited the city between March 29 and May 7, with 54 per cent costing 500 yuan per person or less.
None of the offers for one-day tour groups the Post found on Taobao ventured past Hong Kong Island or West Kowloon.
The trips missed out on hotspots such as Tai O Village, a traditional fishing port on Lantau Island, which was highly rated on a list of top attractions recommended by residents.
Chan explained the mainland tours were driven by time constraints.
“These tour groups want to confine themselves to a small area and head to the ‘must see spots’ … visiting really nice, but remote, areas is too time-consuming,” he said.
Mainland Chinese visitors return to Hong Kong but most tours are short, low-cost
Chan drew up his own list of must-sees based on the 500 yuan ceiling for many mainland tours.
“I’d want to make it authentic and go to the really gritty areas of Hong Kong. Talking to locals would be a more memorable experience than just going to the conventional spots and taking pictures,” he said.
“Heading to night markets in Jordan is a great way to see local culture and hear people’s stories.”
The type of food on offer to mainland tour visitors came in for strong criticism last month after meals were arranged at fast food restaurants.
Group tours checked by the Post that offered food budgeted just 60 yuan for lunch at a “local Hong Kong restaurant”.
Hong Kong fast-food chains become go-to place for mainland Chinese budget tours
He added that he believed most of the younger generation of mainland tourists wanted experiences that budget tours did not offer.
“The appeal of low-cost budget tours will always be there, but many people will make their own travel plans,” Chan said.
He also noted many tourists had done research on Xiaohongshu, the mainland’s Instagram-style platform, and tried to “get off the beaten track”.
