The cash registers have been ringing loud and fast at Hong Kong shopping centres, with average sales rising 20 per cent at the start of the Year of the Snake, thanks to an influx of mainland tourists.
Elizabeth Kok, the general manager for retail at Swire Properties, said some retailers at the Pacific Place mall in Admiralty recorded double-digit year-on-year sales growth during the Lunar New Year holiday, with the third and fourth day of the public holiday being the busiest.
"Pacific Place attracted the higher-spending mainland visitors as well as wealthy local shoppers," Kok said.
Retail sales growth for the luxury sector experienced a slower rate from May last year, but it rebounded in December.
"We recorded an impressive sales performance in December," Kok said.
"As there is a limited supply of new space in good locations, there is still impetus to drive rents up in locations where supply is unable to satisfy demand, and Pacific Place is one of those locations."
Sun Hung Kai Properties said sales at its 12 shopping centres saw a year-on-year 15 per cent increase to HK$160 million in the first five days of the Year of the Snake.