Hong Kong tourism in distress: restaurant, retail and hotel bosses try to reinvent themselves digitally as pandemic keeps visitors away
- Anxiety sets in for thousands made jobless, or told to stay home on reduced pay or no pay
- Hard-hit sectors get creative, with city tours designed for Hongkongers, staycation deals
This is the fourth instalment of a five-part series in which the Post takes a look at unemployment in Hong Kong, as the city grapples with the aftermath of the months-long civil unrest and the pandemic. Read parts three, two and one.
Hong Kong Television Network’s HKTVmall is thriving and expecting an unaudited profit of at least HK$90 million (US$11.6 million) for January to June – its first time in the black, after chalking up accumulated losses of HK$1.7 billion since 2015.
Business boomed as stay-at-home Hongkongers switched to buying more online. It hired more than 260 full-timers since March, and started recruiting close to 200 more from May.
From tour agencies to hotels, shops and restaurants, 2020 is proving a struggle to reinvent their businesses, go online or risk going bust.
For more than half a million people engaged in tourism-related work, this is a year of anxiety and desperation, as many have already lost their jobs, taken pay cuts, or are staying home on unpaid leave.