Hong Kong visitor numbers slump further ahead of Labour Day holiday

The number of tourists visiting Hong Kong continued to decline in the first two weeks of this month, the Tourism Board said - and industry leaders see no sign of improvement.

Chairman Peter Lam Kin-ngok said the provisional figures showed a single-digit percentage decline on the same period last year. It was too early to say whether Friday's Labour Day holiday would boost the hospitality and retail industries.

Visitor numbers have shown a marked decline in recent months, factors Lam blamed on last year's Occupy sit-ins and recent protests against traders from across the border. He hoped a citywide campaign to spur spending, announced last week and launched yesterday, would show Hong Kong still welcomed tourists. Some 14,500 outlets have signed up for the five-week campaign, under which they will offer discounts to local residents as well as visitors.

Retailers hope to reverse months of declining sales, which have been blamed on the strong Hong Kong dollar, rising anti-mainland sentiment and Beijing's crackdown on graft and conspicuous consumption.

The Immigration Department expects the number of people passing through border control points between Thursday and Sunday to be 15 per cent higher than in the period from April 30 to May 3 last year. While the majority of the 3.56 million people crossing the border are expected to be Hongkongers, the fact the holiday falls on a Friday is expected to bring in visitors for the long weekend.

Hotels Association chairman Victor Chan Kok-wai said yesterday that bookings continued to come in, albeit slowly. Close to 80 per cent of rooms were reserved for May 1 and 2, slightly lower than the number of reservations at the same stage last year.