By Tu Haiming
Since the resumption of quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland in January last year, the city’s tourism sectors such as travel agencies, hotels, shopping malls and restaurants have been eager to make the most business out of the Golden Weeks. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has also launched various promotion campaigns in the hope of generating more benefits for businesses.
It is approximated that every 1.5 million tourists will translate into 0.1 percentage point of GDP growth for Hong Kong. Both the government and business sectors, therefore, take Golden Weeks seriously.
However, mainland visitors’ consumption habits have changed significantly, with shopping sprees diminishing. Hong Kong’s tourism industry must transform to remain competitive and successful. While Golden Weeks remain important to Hong Kong and should continue to be taken advantage of, the city should also attach great importance to every ordinary…
