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Opinion | Face it, Hong Kong’s bars won’t recover unless enough expats return
- The expatriates and international travellers who went away have mostly been replaced by mainlanders – but hanging out in bars is a predominantly Western social practice
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I was in Wan Chai lately for some open mic events. The once bustling Lockhart Road and Jaffe Road were very quiet. The space vacated in 2021 by the Coyote Bar & Grill, after being a popular Wan Chai fixture for 23 years, remains vacant.
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The plight of bars in Hong Kong is clear: the Covid-19 pandemic hit them really hard and they have never fully recovered.
The latest government statistics released on May 6 confirmed my anecdotal experience. The bar trade was the worst performer of the entire restaurant sector in the first quarter. While the whole industry saw a revenue increase of 2.3 per cent year on year, bars recorded a steep drop of 17.8 per cent.
Bar operators are trying to do something about it. Earlier this month, the Hong Kong Bar and Club Association launched a lucky draw with prizes worth HK$500,000 (US$64,000), and promised more discounts and offers during the holidays.
Association chairman Chin Chun-wing attributed the loss of business at bars to customers preferring to spend on the mainland and said he hoped the lucky draw would attract more Hongkongers back to the city’s bars.
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He is probably in for a disappointment. Industry expert and nightlife magnate Allan Zeman criticised the lucky draw campaign as “desperate”. He urged the local industry to focus on providing premium services and experiences worth paying for, for example, through attractive decor. He lamented that “not a lot of people have the charisma to do that”.
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