Over 2.3 million outbound travel trips were recorded among Hong Kong residents during last week’s Christmas and long weekend holiday as the city’s catering sector recorded slow business.
Starting from Christmas Eve last Wednesday to Sunday, Hong Kong saw a total of 2.32 million trips taken by residents out of the city, according to the Immigration Department.
Over the three-day period from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, there were nearly 1.68 million outbound trips, a 21 per cent increase compared to last year.
Checkpoints linking to mainland China, including Shenzhen Bay and the West Kowloon Railway Station, saw a significant rise in outbound travellers as many Hongkongers headed to mainland China during the holiday.
From Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, the number of outbound trips out of Hong Kong via the Shenzhen Bay checkpoint increased 50 per cent compared to last year.
Winston Yeung, chair of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants & Related Trades, told HKFP on Monday that business was sluggish during the Christmas holiday, with some restaurant owners calling it “the slowest business at Christmas over the past 10 years.”
Yeung, speaking over the phone, attributed the slow business mainly to residents’ outbound travel, with increasingly more people travelling to mainland China during holidays.
He added that the deadly Tai Po fire in late November had also contributed to a fall in revenue for the catering sector.
“Since early December, restaurants have seen a significant dip in business as many cancelled their bookings after the inferno,” Yeung said in Cantonese.
More slow business expected
Yeung said the catering sector also forecasts sluggish business in the upcoming new year holiday as the city expects another wave of outbound travel.
Simon Wong, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants & Related Trades, said on RTHK last Friday that while more tourists were staying overnight in Hong Kong, they were spending less. He added that consumption among mainland Chinese tourists has been declining since the Covid-19 pandemic as the Chinese economy was not yet fully recovered.
Wong said the catering sector’s revenue over Christmas Eve and Christmas dropped by around 10 per cent compared to last year.
He added that the Tai Po fire had also impacted local business as many scrapped their gathering plans following the inferno. Some people also cancelled their New Year’s Eve restaurant bookings after the government called off the annual fireworks display.
