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This year’s Lunar New Year holidays went by quickly. There were a lot of events and many short-stay tourists from the mainland visited Hong Kong. But restaurant operators I spoke to said their Chinese New Year billings were only better than during the Covid-19 period despite the heavy crowds. I could probably sum up the reason for that in one word: cost.
We lament that tourists are not spending. A friend of mine who is of Southeast Asian descent told me his daughter’s wedding banquet in Hong Kong, even at a friendship price, would cost HK$16,000 per table in a reputable five-star hotel on Hong Kong Island, whereas the event in a top Chinese restaurant in Johor Bahru in Malaysia…
