Hong Kong’s malls and attractions offer gifts, rewards and great deals to entice mainland Chinese visitors over ‘golden week’

Travel Industry Council estimates 600,000 mainlanders will visit city over seven days to May 5
The MTR Corporation plans more frequent service as attractions extend opening hours to cater to expected increase in demand

Hong Kong economy

Oscar Liu

Published: 11:00am, 27 Apr 2023

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Hong Kong’s shopping malls and attractions are unleashing discounts and millions of dollars in perks to entice mainland Chinese visitors during the Labour Day week, the first long holiday after more than three years of pandemic-related border closures.

Retail and tourism operators are bracing themselves for the five-day holiday dubbed “golden week” between April 29 and May 3 across the border, with the city’s rail giant revealing arrangements to manage crowds.

The Immigration Department forecasts 4.61 million people will pass through Hong Kong’s sea, land and air control points between April 29 and May 4.

Mainland tourists visit Golden Bauhinia Square. Photo: Dickson Lee

The Travel Industry Council estimated 600,000 mainlanders would visit the city over the seven days to May 5, still lower than the 1.27 million inbound tourists from the mainland recorded in 2019 before Covid-19.

Sun Hung Kai Real Estate director of sales and leasing Fiona Chung Sau-lin estimated the holiday would attract mainland tourists to the city for short trips to sightsee and purchase quality products.

“The overall strategy [of the 12 major shopping malls under our management] aims at high-quality mainland visitors who will spend a large amount. We are hoping to successfully drive traffic,” she said.

The developer on Wednesday estimated customer flow and business would increase 20 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, year on year.

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It said it would offer more than HK$10 million (US$1.2 million) in rewards at the 12 malls under its portfolio, including Landmark North in Sheung Shui, Chelsea Heights Plaza and KPoint in Tuen Mun, located near the Lo Wu, Lok Ma Chau and Shenzhen Bay land crossings.

Shoppers who spend a specified amount in the major malls will be given presents, including canned abalone and gift boxes with mushrooms and fish maw.

New World Development’s K11 Musea shopping arcade in Tsim Sha Tsui rolled out spending rewards for locals and tourists with HK$2,200 e-coupons and discounts in catering, fashion, beauty products and jewellery.

Shoppers are also entitled to a 50 per cent discount on selected beauty brands and a gift worth HK$3,000.

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Shopping centres under Fortune Malls including MetroTown Shopping Arcade in Tseung Kwan O, Laguna Plaza in Lam Tin and Ma On Shan Plaza will be offering 30 per cent off food coupons and lucky draws for shoppers to win a range of appliances.

Inbound visitors will be able to access several new landmarks Hong Kong created in the past three years, with many attractions adjusting their operating hours for the long holiday.

In West Kowloon Cultural District art hub, the city’s latest attractions, the M+ museum, which closes on Mondays, and the Palace Museum, which closes on Tuesdays, will have special opening arrangements.

M+, which debuted in November 2021, and the Palace Museum, which started operations in July 2022, will open from 10am to 6pm on May 1 and 2.

M+ museum in West Kowloon cultural district in Hong Kong. Photo: Shutterstock

They also jointly launched the museums package ticket, which is available on the Cityline online platform allowing visitors to enjoy discounted rates when purchasing regular-priced general admission and special exhibition passes for both attractions in a single transaction.

A general admission ticket for both museums costs between HK$170 and HK$162, while special exhibition passes sell for HK$360 to HK$342.

The Ngong Ping 360 cable car on Lantau Island will open at 9am and close at 6.30pm from Saturday to Monday to cater for the higher visitor numbers, which are expected to reach 80 per cent of the pre-pandemic level.

To attract visitors, it launched a special offer costing HK$284 on the mainland social media platform WeChat or 258 yuan (US$37) on the online shopping platform Tmall. This deal includes a round-trip see-through cabin cable car ride, a HK$40 cash coupon for use at Po Lin Monastery and a tote bag.

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Guests who purchase two advanced tickets for the Tai O Pass will be given a HK$50 cash coupon for Watsons healthcare shops via Tmall, part of Alibaba Group, which owns the South China Morning Post. The pass, including vouchers to spend at the Tai O fishing village, will allow visitors to take a cable car ride and a boat excursion.

Also on Lantau, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, which currently closes every Tuesday and Thursday, will open every day from Saturday to May 8. It will welcome visitors with a new theme, “Marvel Season of Superheroes”, along with holiday packages ranging from HK$980 to HK$6,440, some of which include dining and park tickets.

Ocean Park, a tourist attraction in the Southern district that was closed every Tuesday since the pandemic measures were scrapped, will operate every day from Saturday to May 7, featuring an exhibition to showcase the works of Kunio Okawara, the designer of Gundam, a Japanese military fiction media franchise, as well as two multimedia shows every night.

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For the first time in three years, Hong Kong’s renowned bun festival on Cheung Chau island will return to the soccer pitch of Pak Tai Temple Playground. It features stall games, handicraft making, variety shows and climbing demonstrations. The festival will run from May 23 to 27.

The festival highlight, the bun-snatching competition, involves dozens of climbers scaling bamboo towers decorated with white plastic buns at midnight on the last day.

The MTR Corporation said it would enhance services on its eight railway lines from Saturday to Monday to manage crowds. It will provide 460 additional train trips during this period, a more frequent service than on regular weekends and holidays.

The rail giant also said the cross-border high-speed rail link would provide 11 pairs of additional trains between West Kowloon station and Futian from Thursday to May 4 to cater for demand.