Hong Kong annual winter shopping festival set for first summer outing, targets sales and spending boost
- Three-day Hong Kong Brands and Products Shopping Festival begins on August 6 at the AsiaWorld Expo in Chek Lap Kok
- It will feature 250 stalls offering food, household products, beauty goods and pet health care items
The three-day Hong Kong Brands and Products Shopping Festival, which will begin on August 6 at AsiaWorld-Expo in Chek Lap Kok, will feature 250 stalls offering a variety of food items, household products, fashion and beauty goods and pet health care.
Organisers Chinese Manufacturers’ Association said on Wednesday that the indoor event was expected to attract 30,000 to 50,000 visitors and generate at least tens of millions of dollars in sales revenue.
“The festival is expected to boost summer sales ... help businesses [ride] out the adversity and drive Hong Kong’s economic recovery,” said Allen Shi Lop-tak, the association’s president.
About 90 per cent of the eligible population of 7.2 million has registered for the government’s HK$5,000 consumption voucher scheme designed to boost spending. The first batch of e-vouchers is expected to be issued on August 1.
“These three days will be an experiment for us. It has not been held indoors for almost 30 years, so it will be a nice try,” Shi said, adding there were plans to organise the expo in December this year.
Responding to concerns about social distancing during the pandemic, Shi said the number of visitors would be capped at 50 per cent of venue capacity, or at most 2,700 people at a time.
Strict precautionary measures would be employed at the venue, which would also have hand sanitisers and temperature check stations available, he added.
Visitors will be offered a HK$40 same-day return ticket on MTR trains between Hong Kong, Kowloon and Tsing Yi stations and the AsiaWorld-Expo station. Those who have received one dose of a vaccine will not be required to pay the admission fee.
Chinese medicine company Nam Pei Hong will be among the exhibitors. Associate business development manager Johnny Chui Ka-kuen said he did not expect sales revenue to increase because of the shorter duration of the summer event.
However, the company said it hoped to attract residents from Yuen Long, Tuen Mun and Tsing Yi this time and had prepared more free gifts to the effect.
Besides the summer setting, the inclusion of health care products for pets was another first for the shopping festival.
Petmacy business development manager Roger Li Tsz-lok said he looked forward to a boost in sales – to the tune of a seven-digit number – because of the increasing demand for pet-related goods.
“We will have 10 booths this time, which will form a pet street. We hope different brands will have more exposure and [boost] our sales,” he said.
