IT IS a typically busy day at Kai Tak at the height of the summer. In Central, tourists are streaming off the Peak Tram, and in Tsim Sha Tsui, the streets are filled with shoppers searching for bargains.
Businessmen, locals and visitors alike browse counters stacked with perfumes, cosmetics, handbags, watches, chocolates, toys, and the obligatory cigarettes and alcohol at the huge Duty Free Shoppers Hong Kong (DFS) store in the Hankow Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui.
But just what sort of value does 'duty free' shopping in Hong Kong represent? Tourists may be familiar with the duty free concept elsewhere, but the situation in Hong Kong is vastly different. It raises the question whether it is misleading for a shop called 'Duty Free Shoppers' to advertise a wide variety of goods, most of which are not dutiable, to uninformed shoppers.
According to a survey by the Sunday Morning Post, many of the products for sale at DFS can be bought for the same price or less in your neighbourhood supermarket or pharmacy in Hong Kong.
'Lowest Liquor prices in Hong Kong - Guaranteed,' reads a sign at DFS, Tsim Sha Tsui. A 750ml bottle of Smirnoff Vodka sells for $127. But a short walk away at Park 'N Shop, the same bottle is $110.50, and Virgin Atlantic Airways' in-flight duty free offers a 1000ml bottle for $111.
If tourists think they are paying less for goods from DFS stores, they may be in for a rude awakening.