Hong Kong expected to handle 9 million trips by people over festive season, as authorities and retailers prepare raft of discounts, sweeteners
- Immigration Department says more than 83 per cent of expected 9.03 million likely to use city’s land-based crossing points over Christmas, New Year breaks
- Tourism Board and local retailers prepare discounts and vouchers to encourage Hongkongers to spend money in city rather than head elsewhere to shop
Hong Kong is expected to handle more than 9 million trips by people over the Christmas and New Year holidays, amid efforts by local authorities and businesses to offer sweeteners to convince people to spend over the festive season.
The Immigration Department on Tuesday said that more than 83 per cent of the anticipated 9.03 million trips would likely involve the city’s land-based crossing points over the two holidays, while the remainder would arrive via sea or air.
The figures also showed the incoming figure would peak at 626,000 on December 26 and departures would reach a high of 549,000 on December 23.
But a potential outflow of Hongkongers looking to shop elsewhere has pushed the city’s Tourism Board, as well as business leaders, to offer up a range of deals to entice residents to spend locally.
“Christmas is the peak season for retailers. As the first Christmas since borders reopened, we expect residents to head overseas or to the mainland, which will no doubt affect our business,” Hong Kong Retail Management Association chairwoman Annie Tse Yau On-yee said.
“But we are happy to see the government rolling out more Christmas decorations across the city, with many organisations holding Christmas markets and carnivals to create a festive atmosphere that encourages more spending.”
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung earlier called on restaurants, retailers, shopping centres and the MTR Corporation to offer discounts and perks to boost spending.
Responding to Yeung’s call, the association said more than 100 merchants operating through 3,000 outlets would offer discounts from Tuesday until February 29 of next year.
The deals include discounts from outdoor and sportswear brands, transport coupons from the MTR Corporation, as well as offers on Christmas meals at popular Japanese hotpot and barbecue restaurants.
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Customers can also enjoy further discounts by using payment platforms such as AlipayHK and Alipay. Both are associated with Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post.
The Tourism Board will also hand out the first batch of HK$100 (US$12.8) dining vouchers to 100,000 residents on Wednesday at 10am as part of a HK$20 million campaign to boost spending as 2023 draws to a close.
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Residents can get their hands on the vouchers offered under the “Hong Kong Night Treats” scheme by using a local phone number to set up an account on the board’s website.
The vouchers must be used at one of the more 630 restaurants and bars listed on the website. The first 100,000 users to select a venue at Wednesday 10am will each receive a coupon and must spend it within 30 days.
The coupons can only be used at the approved venues when customers spend HK$100 or more after 6pm.
A second round of 100,000 vouchers will be handed out on January 10 at 10am.
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The Airport Authority on Tuesday also published traffic figures for November that showed the site handled 3.8 million passengers, representing a 2.6-fold increase year on year.
The largest increases in passenger traffic comprised those going to and from Southeast Asia, mainland China and Japan, the authority said.
Official data showed the airport handled 36.8 million travellers over the first 11 months of this year, an eight-fold increase year on year.
The site also handled 3.9 million tonnes of cargo, a rise of 1.8 per cent from the same period last year.
