Coronavirus: decline in Hong Kong restaurant takings narrows, amid optimism that easing of social-distancing rules is helping sector’s recovery
- Restaurant receipts drop 8.8 per cent in 2021’s first quarter, marking improvement on previous figures
- Optimism for sector’s recovery under ‘vaccine bubble’ provisions, but government says short-term outlook remains challenging
Restaurant receipts were HK$19.7 billion (US$2.5 billion) for January to March this year, according to provisional figures released on Thursday by the Census and Statistics Department, compared with HK$21.6 billion in the same period last year, when the coronavirus started to ravage the city.
Restaurant expenditure over the same period similarly declined year on year by a preliminary estimate of 8 per cent, to HK$6.4 billion.
Analysed by month, restaurant takings nosedived 38.7 per cent in January year on year, but bounced back with corresponding figures of 10.1 per cent and 20.7 per cent for February and March respectively, according to the provisional estimates.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, restaurant earnings plunged 25.1 per cent to HK$19.5 billion from HK$26 billion over the same period the previous year, according to data the department previously published.
As part of its “vaccine bubble” scheme, the government announced late last month the reopening of bars and other entertainment venues from April 29, with social-distancing restrictions on restaurants also relaxed through a complicated new set of rules.
The multi-tiered system, designed to boost the city’s flagging Covid-19 vaccination drive, was expected to offer a ray of hope for the city’s embattled restaurants, many of which have been struggling to survive through the pandemic.