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Hong Kong property
Business

Hong Kong restaurants back in busy mode as social distancing measures are eased, but recovery still a long way off

  • Restaurants do roaring business over the weekend as malls and food and beverage operators launch Mother’s Day promotions
  • The worst for the retail sector is over as sentiment is starting to pick up, says Cusson Leung of JPMorgan

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Customers at a restaurant in Central on Friday after the Hong Kong government eased social distancing measures to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Lam Ka-sing
Packed eateries over the weekend were a welcome respite for struggling restaurant operators hit by months of street protests and coronavirus outbreak, but analysts and entrepreneurs warned Hong Kong’s food and beverage sector is still months away from a full recovery.
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Many mall and restaurant operators have taken advantage of the government’s relaxed social distancing measures to launch marketing campaigns to boost sales, ranging from shopping vouchers, discounts, free parking and other giveaways to boost sales.

The promotions worth millions of dollars coincided with Mother’s Day on Sunday, boosting the catering sector’s receipts to HK$280 million (US$36.1 million), said the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades. Takings by Chinese restaurants were up to 80 per cent higher than normal while western eateries did 60 per cent more business, it added.

Walter Lok, director of BriKetenia which operates a French restaurant in Harbour North shopping centre, in North Point, said sales doubled last weekend after the landlord Sun Hung Kai Properties launched promotions. Part of it is offering shoppers a chance to stay in the adjoining five-star Hyatt hotel and discount coupons.

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“The promotion helped,” said Lok.

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