Hong Kong restaurants lament drop in business over Easter holiday, hit hard by residents heading to mainland China and high rent
- One restaurant chain operator says business declined 30 per cent in first three days of Easter break compared with last year, while another decides to give staff day off
- Some Hongkongers say they’ve decided to buck the trend of heading north over weekend to save money amid economic downturn
Hong Kong restaurant owners have lamented a significant drop in business during the Easter holiday compared with last year, as they suffer the double blow of residents heading across the border to spend and landlords increasing rent.
Some Hongkongers also told the Post on Sunday that they were staying in the city to save money amid the economic downturn, despite many others opting to travel to mainland China during the long weekend.
One restaurant operator said the atmosphere had been downbeat, even prompting him to close on the third day of the four-day Easter holiday.
“We only served three tables of customers on Saturday. It was worse on Friday – we only served two tables. The whole vibe was quite bleak, as my staff were just looking at each other the whole night,” said Ben Yeung Chi-keung, owner of Sakanaichi Hotpot in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Yeung said he was disappointed, especially as he had extended operating hours for lunch service at his 25-table restaurant.
“It was just miserable. I decided not to operate on Sunday as it would only be a waste of electricity and frustrating for my eight staff to serve no one. I would rather let them have an extra day off,” he said.