Yarus Lau, manager of Western restaurant GoNuts at Kai Tak Mall 2, said business levels were similar to past weekends and he was “a bit disappointed” with the number of customers. Traffic was better during previous drills and test events at the stadium, he added.
“I think the issue is the type of people here and the event’s timing today,” he said, noting the 8.35pm ending was past normal dinner hours. “It feels like people are dispersing and not coming back into the restaurants.”
The HK$30 billion (US$3.9 billion) Kai Tak Sports Park was officially inaugurated on Saturday evening with a star-studded opening ceremony that began at 6.30pm.
The roughly 33,000 spectators had fully dispersed within an hour after the show ended.
While some residents indeed headed for dinner afterwards, no long queues formed at restaurants.
Edmond Huang, manager of The Pantry Club at Kai Tak Mall 3, said business was only slightly better than a usual weekend.
To try to draw more customers, the restaurant has introduced a special discounted menu and it would consider adjusting operating hours depending on the traffic, he said.
