Hong Kong hotels target staycations as the city’s tourism industry endures its worst slump since Sars
- With tourists avoiding the city because of the months-long unrest, hotel operators are targeting families with discount package deals and activities to shore up declining occupancy rates
- Tourist arrivals in Hong Kong fell 56 per cent year on year in November, the worst since the Sars outbreak in 2003
Hong Kong’s hotel operators are looking at new ways to beat seven months of downturn, including tapping the staycation market with hard to resist discount package deals.
Far East Consortium International, which operates nine hotels comprising 2,867 hotel rooms in Hong Kong, is among those pursuing staycationers.
“We felt the impact after October as mainland tourist arrivals dropped a lot,” said Winnie Chiu, executive director of Far East, adding that mainland tourists account for about 50 per cent of its guests.
In a bid to boost occupancy rates, Chiu said many operators are targeting families to spend their weekends in hotels in Hong Kong instead of travelling overseas. For example, its Dorsett Tsuen Wan has a 2,000 square foot kids zone and four kids themed rooms, aimed at children aged two to eight years old.
“The facilities have attracted many families to stay at our hotels, especially during the Christmas holiday,” said Fion Wong, marketing communications manager at the Dorsett Tsuen Wan, which helped to boost the occupancy rate to as high as 80 per cent.