Hong Kong malls chase after mainland Chinese visitors with HK$18 million in perks, but few shoppers found on first day of border reopening
- ‘I almost forget how convenient it is to shop in Hong Kong,’ says Xu Jiamin, a Shenzhen resident, who had spent HK$20,000 by Sunday morning
- No overflow of mainland shoppers in city’s shopping areas on Sunday, but retailers predict uptick soon and prepare rewards to woo travellers
Hong Kong’s major shopping malls are wheeling out more than HK$18 million (US$2.3 million) in spending rewards to entice mainland Chinese travellers, but many of the city’s typical hotspots appeared to mark Sunday’s border reopening with muted trading.
Local residents also took part in last-minute gift shopping before heading north as quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and the mainland was reinstalled after a three-year hiatus.
At Sha Tin’s New Town Plaza, a mall that used to be a popular destination for cross-border shoppers along the East Rail line, a Post reporter found on average only two out of 20 customers were visiting from Shenzhen.
But mainlanders who spoke to other Post reporters in the city revealed they were prepared to spend big.
Xia Jie, 26, an electronics technician from Shenzhen, arrived in Hong Kong around noon on Sunday through Lok Ma Chau rail station with his girlfriend. They had planned to spend 30,000 yuan (US$4,400) on gadgets but were met with disappointment.
