Bargain hunters rush to Hong Kong, but Christmas shopping frenzy fizzles out

Jump of 18pc in mainland visitor arrivals not matched by rise in spending

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A queue outside a luxury store in Tsim Sha Tsui on Tuesday. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 10:19pm, 27 Dec 2016Updated: 3:15pm, 28 Dec 2016

Bargain-hunting tourists flocked to the city over the Christmas period as mainland visitor numbers jumped 18 per cent year on year during the four-day holiday.

But despite the overall rise, tourists spent far less than a few years ago.

From December 23 to 26 there was a 13.8 per cent rise in overall visitors, a stark contrast to the 5.4 per cent decline in the first 11 months of the year, according to statistics from the Immigration Department. The number of overseas tourists increased 2.5 per cent during the holiday.

Tourists at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai. Photo: Sam Tsang

Despite the festive rush retailers said December sales were down on last year, as mainland shoppers were spending less on big-ticket items.

On December 24 and 25, visitors queued for hours outside the Sogo store and Times Square in Causeway Bay and Citygate Outlets in Tung Chung as discounts of up to 80 per cent were available.

But the shopping boom quickly cooled over the following two days, as mainland visitors returned home and went back to work.

Lau Hak-bun, director for Greater China at Chow Sang Sang, one of Hong Kong’s biggest jewellery chains, said sales for the festive season were down more than 10 per cent compared with last year.