'Time for sectors to work on boosting tourist numbers'

The Tourism Board's executive director on Monday said various sectors should reflect on how to attract more tourists, as consumption patterns have changed since the pandemic. In an interview with the Hong Kong Economic Journal, Dane Cheng said he was satisfied that Hong Kong saw about 11 million visitor arrivals in the first quarter of the year, and he expects the number to rise in the second half. Cheng said Hong Kong has been doing a lot in terms of promotion and holding mega events, and it's time for different sectors to reflect on how to attract more tourists. "The problem now is, tourist numbers recovered back to 70 percent [of pre-Covid numbers], but the departure number for local people is over 100 percent... No matter whether it's the catering sector or the retail sector, if your business can't retain the locals, how can you expect it to attract tourists?" he questioned. Cheng added that people should stop comparing current tourist numbers with those before the pandemic. "It's unrealistic for tourist numbers to return to the levels of 2018 and 2019... Back then, when so many people were coming to Hong Kong, no matter which area was that, Hong Kong people were overloaded. Tourists also want a good experience, instead of staying in a crowded place," he said. Meanwhile, chairwoman of the Travel Industry Council Gianna Hsu said there were about 760,000 mainland tourist arrivals during Golden Week. Speaking after attending a radio programme, Hsu said the rainy weather did not affect the mood of tourists, and some businesses even benefited from the poor conditions. "There was rain occasionally, urging some tourists to visit shopping malls. Therefore, I believe the retail sales for shopping malls had seen improvements. We expect Golden Week will bring about HK$2 billion consumption revenue to Hong Kong. We look forward to the next Golden Week holiday," she said.