Can National Day Golden Week Also Create A Peak For Hongkong Tourism?

Lin Zhengyuee, chief executive of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region, told reporters 8 days ago that the annual National Day golden week is the peak of Hongkong's tourism. Hongkong's industries welcome visitors from the mainland. However, the number of visitors to Hong Kong in the first 6 days of October this year has dropped by more than 50%, and retail, catering, tourism and hotel industries have been seriously frustrated, and about 600 thousand of the relevant personnel have been affected.

During the past eleven golden weeks, more violent protests broke out in Hongkong. In October 4th, the Hongkong Special Administrative Region Government formulated the prohibition of masked regulations by applying the "emergency law" and took effect from 5 o'clock.

However, since the implementation of the ban mask law, a large number of protesters continue to mask themselves and have intensified their efforts to destroy violence. Xinhua reported that "many banks, shopping malls, shops and subways were hit by looting and burning. Hongkong has been in a state of" chaos in the city "and" paralysis of the whole city "for several days, and many innocent citizens are being beaten by masked mobs.

Hongkong Times Square Shopping Center was closed by protests.

Lin Zhengyuee said at a news conference today that the sharp drop in the number of tourists and the impact of intensified protests on Hongkong's third quarter economic data must be very serious.

The South China Morning Post reported 8 days ago that Yao Sirong, member of the Legislative Council of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region, said to the South China Morning Post that data from Hongkong Immigration Department showed that the number of tourists to Hongkong in the first six days of the eleven "Golden Week" was sharply reduced by 53.6% compared with last year, which is expected to cause 2 billion 800 million HK dollars economic loss to Hongkong.

However, compared with the retail sales of HK $40 billion in October last year, the total sales volume of Hongkong's retail industry has lost about HK $1 billion in the past 3 days, down 25% from last year, according to Guan Chao Zhao, director and economist of the Hongkong business and Economic Research Center in Hongkong.

Bloomberg reported at the end of September that according to the data of Hongkong Tourism Association, the number of Chinese tour groups to Hongkong in the eleven golden week this year dropped by 86% compared with the same period last year. The price of flights from Shanghai to Hongkong was 38% cheaper than that of last year, but the hotel occupancy rate of Hongkong golden week was only 30%.

This part of the tourists, according to the South China Morning Post, reported a large number of transfers to Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries this year. In July this year, the number of Chinese tourists traveling to Singapore increased by 100 thousand, up 46% from June.

This is undoubtedly adding to the hardship of Hongkong's fashion and luxury retailers who have gone through three months' hard times. Hongkong is an important market for international fashion and luxury brands. It is the largest export market for Swiss watches and the strategic area of luxury companies such as France Open Cloud group and luxury brand Prada.

Guangdong Road, Hongkong

In October 2nd, the census and Statistics Department of the Hongkong Special Administrative Region government released the latest "monthly survey report on retail sales". The report shows that retail sales in Hongkong in August 2019 were temporarily valued at 29 billion 400 million yuan, down 23% from the same month last year.

Among all retail categories, the category of luxury jewelry, cosmetics, clothing accessories and other merchandise categories was the most significant. Among them, sales of luxury jewelry, watches and clocks and gifts fell 47.4%, the first drop. Clothing fell 33.4%, drugs and cosmetics fell 30%, footwear and other clothing accessories sales fell 26%, and department store products fell 29.9%.

Lin Zhengyuee said today that the SAR government will do its best to retain the employment of Hongkong people, but it needs the concerted efforts of all sectors of society in Hongkong. In particular, she appealed to major developers in Hongkong to provide appropriate assistance to SMEs in order to tide over difficulties.