‘Mini-Golden Week’ to bring shopping boom as cash-rich visitors flock to Hong Kong for holiday
Jump in latest tourist figures year on year to nearly 5 million visitors points to recovering local economy on strength of cash-rich mainlanders
Hong Kong’s retailers and tourism-dependent businesses are expecting booming sales over the coming days, with bumper crowds at major shopping districts as cash-rich visitors from mainland China flock to the city for the Labour Day holidays, also known as “mini-Golden Week”.
Hong Kong sales recovery has retailers looking to expand stores
In scenes reminiscent of the peak-performing years of 2013 and 2014, long queues were seen outside luxury fashion labels on Canton Road in the shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui, while sales were also brisk at pharmacies selling medicine and cosmetics in the border town of Yuen Long.
In stark contrast, a shopping town purpose-built at the San Tin border for mainland visitors stood largely empty, with most shops still closed after repeated opening delays.
According to the latest figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board, 9 per cent more travellers visited the city in March compared with the same period a year ago, and more of them stayed overnight.
The total number of visitors was 4.99 million, up 8.9 per cent; three-quarters of them, or 3.66 million, were from mainland China – a surge of 10.1 per cent.
Some 2.3 million of the total arrivals stayed overnight, up 6.5 per cent, and about 1.4 million of them were from across the border.
