'Golden week' tourist numbers could fall 50pc
Shanghai travel agencies are worried by the big drop in people wanting to visit Hong Kong around the May Day holiday in the wake of the fake goods scandal.
Most have seen numbers interested in visiting Hong Kong and Macau for the 'golden week' holiday plunge compared to last year, saying applications were down at least 50 per cent from what they had expected.
An increase in tour group prices had also affected applications.
Privately run Chunqiu Travel Agency said its registration for trips to Hong Kong was down 70 per cent. It had only about 600 people registered so far compared to the more than 2,000 tourists during the same period last year, according the agency's spokesman, Zhang Lei.
'Although there is still some time before the holiday, I don't see any big increase during this short time,' said Mr Zhang.
Marketing staff at Shanghai Airlines Tours said they had fewer than 400 orders for a trip to Hong Kong, well below the 1,000 they had originally budgeted for.