Hong Kong recorded a 13 per cent surge in visitors from mainland China during the Lunar New Year holiday, with the influx boosting jewellery sales by 10 per cent during the period despite a sharp rise in gold prices.
Industry representatives said on Sunday that festive business had outperformed last year’s, though the recovery remained uneven across sectors and not always directly tied to the surge in mainland visitors.
Immigration figures showed 1.02 million mainlanders visited the city between February 15 and Saturday, a 13 per cent increase from the 909,628 arrivals logged during the same period last year.
The holiday on the mainland runs from February 15 to Monday, spanning nine days from the 28th day of the last month of the lunar calendar to the seventh day after the new year.
Retail sector lawmaker Peter Shiu Ka-fai said market conditions had improved compared with last year, noting that the retail industry reported a general upturn in business.
He said that despite soaring gold prices, jewellery stores still recorded around 10 per cent growth in sales, largely driven by the influx of mainland tourists.
