Labour Day holiday unlikely to have boosted retail sales in Hong Kong
Bad weather and anti-mainlander sentiment blamed for expected poor holiday retail sales
The long Labour Day weekend holiday is unlikely to boost retail sales figures in Hong Kong, which fell 1.3 per cent in March, the second consecutive month of contraction.
Total city-wide retail sales were valued at HK$39.6 billion in March, a slight improvement over the month before, when it dropped 2.3 per cent year on year. The combined figure for the first quarter of the year rose 4.2 per cent year on year but was a far cry from the 13.9 per cent growth that the same period in 2013 saw over that of 2012.
Hong Kong Retail Management Association chairwoman Caroline Mak Sui-king called the results shocking, blaming a combination of bad weather, a drop in the number of overnight mainland tourists and the latest flare-ups between locals and mainland visitors.
The popular [Hong Kong] tourist districts didn't see that many shoppers
"First, the weather. It was quite rainy. That is a challenge. Second, mainland visitor numbers are high but are they staying overnight or returning the same day? The ones making day trips and are from outside the top-tier cities are growing faster," Mak said.
"The macro picture is the austerity drive. On a micro level, there is the anti-mainlander tension. It's spread on the internet that Hongkongers don't welcome you. I'm sure you wouldn't want to visit a place that wouldn't welcome you."
Mak was referring to the latest altercation on April 15 after a mainland couple let their toddler urinate in a Mong Kok street. The row led state-owned People's Daily to accuse the Hongkongers who took photos of the incident of being "skinheads" and "neo-Nazis".
Mak said the May 1 holiday is unlikely to turn things around as it has not had a significant impact for several years.