Editorial | Keep finger on pulse of Hong Kong tourism trends
Number of visitors arriving in Hong Kong has increased but it is still too early to say the tourism sector is out of the woods
A new year brings hope and opportunity. That appears to be the case with the government’s drive to reboot tourism following the devastating Covid pandemic. While mainland China’s “golden week” Spring Festival break boosted arrivals and consumption, a lot more needs to be done to strengthen Hong Kong’s appeal to visitors from near and far.
The city welcomed more than 4.7 million visitors in January, the highest monthly figure in the post-pandemic period. This includes 3.73 million from the mainland, representing year-on-year increases of 24 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively.
During the first seven days of the golden week holiday, the number of visitors reached nearly 1.25 million, with more than 1.06 million coming from the mainland. The overall hotel occupancy rate also reached 90 per cent.
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui said golden week was a promising start, adding that growth in the number of visitors was expected in the coming year. She said efforts to grow the Southeast Asian market also had paid off. “It’s truly an opportunity-filled year ahead,” she said.
Be that as it may, the tourism sector cannot afford to be complacent. Indeed, arrivals from the mainland remain short of the pre-Covid levels. Travel and spending patterns are said to have evolved along with new trends in market. What used to be attractive may quickly fall out of fashion.
More vigorous efforts are needed to expand the tourism pie, which is increasingly important to economic growth.
