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Stuart Lau

Local jewellers are eyeing opportunities elsewhere in Asia as revenue in Hong Kong continues to slump amid slowing demand from mainland tourists, an industry insider says.
Tommy Tse Tat-fung, deputy chief executive of TSL Jewellery, cited three reasons for weakening demand: Beijing's anti-graft drive, a weaker yuan and mainlanders' presumption they will get an unfriendly welcome.
"We will focus on the Southeast Asian market as the business in Hong Kong is no longer as promising as before," Tse said in a media interview in Jakarta.
He was among more than 100 delegates in the Indonesian capital for a trade symposium organised by Hong Kong's Trade Development Council.
TSL already has shops in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, but Tse said it would now step up efforts to find new locations.

Retail sales have fallen consistently in Hong Kong for the past six months, but the luxury goods sector - which invested heavily in the years when mainland visitor numbers were rising exponentially - has been hit hardest of all.
Tse said last year's Occupy protests had a grave impact. In the past year, the average value of transactions had dropped by a "significant" 20 per cent.
Business in traditional shopping hubs such as Mong Kok and Causeway Bay had fallen by 50 per cent, he said. That sparked cuts to the advertising budget and the relocation of six of its 20-odd shops in the city, mostly into malls along railway lines, which Tse said would help woo shoppers from Guangdong province.
Tse admitted two factors hitting the sector were largely out of the city's control. President Xi Jinping's "tigers and flies" crackdown on graft had helped put mainland shoppers off conspicuous consumption, while devaluation of the yuan last month further hit the spending power of visitors. But the third factor - a perception of Hong Kong as unwelcoming, stoked by protests against mainland visitors and cross-border parallel traders - was more localised.
"It is really a mix of factors; we are still awaiting a recovery of the market of mainland gift-givers" Tse said. "But at least in terms of Hongkongers' attitude towards mainland tourists, it is something we could manage."
Still, he forecast the mainland would make up a growing share of TSL's business in the long run, due to the potential even in major cities. Tse said the company had plans to bolster its presence in cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
Also at the Jakarta event was Armando Tolomelli, chief executive of Prada Asia Pacific, who declined to be interviewed.
The Milan-based luxury goods giant on Wednesday posted a 23 per cent decline in net profit for the six months to the end of July. It said contraction of its business in Hong Kong and Macau was mostly to blame.


Losing their sheen: Hong Kong jewellery giants look to Southeast Asia as slump in cross-border tourism sends sales plunging

Tommy Tse is looking for opportunities overseas.Photo: Stuart Lau

A branch of TSL Jewellery at Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay is closed during the Occupy movement. Photo: May Tse

TSL Jewellery opens its 4th shop in Malaysia in 2013. Photo: TSL

Three reasons for weakening demand: Beijing's anti-graft drive, a weaker yuan and mainlanders' presumption they will get an unfriendly welcome. Photo: Thomas Yau

News

Hong Kong

Hong Kong economy

As mainland woes send luxury goods sales tumbling in Hong Kong, firms in the industry turn their attention to potential growth markets
