China News Service Hong Kong (Reporter Dai Xiaolu) The eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday in mainland China is coming to an end. The Immigration Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government responded to inquiries from China News Service reporters on the evening of the 7th. As of 21:00 that day, about 120,000 mainland tourists had visited Hong Kong that day. Including the first six days of the holiday, a total of about 1.285 million mainland tourists visited Hong Kong, an increase of about 5.7% compared with about 1.216 million during the seven-day National Day holiday last year.
Shao Jiahui, a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (wholesale and retail sector), said that during the long holidays, mainland tourists mainly gather in traditional tourist areas such as Tsim Sha Tsui. Among them, the sales of classic and popular categories such as cosmetics and luxury goods performed well, with a significant increase compared with the same period last year. Many merchants in the industry reported double-digit growth in business volume. He mentioned that the passenger flow structure of tourists from the mainland to Hong Kong shows obvious holiday characteristics. During weekends, tourists from mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area are mainly tourists. These "repeat tourists" are more inclined to go to remote areas of Hong Kong for in-depth travel. During the long holidays, more long-distance tourists arrive in Hong Kong via high-speed rail or airplane. Due to fewer visits, their shopping needs are more concentrated and they are more inclined to purchase their favorite products.
Chairman of the Hong Kong Catering Industry Association, Yang Zhennian, said that the overall consumption atmosphere in Hong Kong was good during the long holidays. Customer flow was highly concentrated on the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, while the rest of the holidays remained dispersed. The overall business scale was basically the same as the same period last year, but the restaurant booking rate performed outstandingly, increasing by 10 to 20% compared with ordinary weekends. In addition, catering consumption preferences are changing. For example, in the past, elders took the lead in choosing Chinese restaurants. Young people have gradually become the main decision-makers in catering, driving the increase in reservations at Korean, Japanese and other specialty restaurants.
