Annual shopping fair opens with free admission

A four-day annual shopping festival kicked off on Friday at AsiaWorld-Expo, with organisers offering free admission to bargain hunters on opening day in celebration of Hong Kong's success at the Paris Olympics. However, visitors and exhibitors at the Brands and Products Shopping Festival, organised by the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong, pointed to smaller crowds than usual at the fair that runs until August 5. The event, featuring over 250 stalls, was expected to attract 60,000 visitors and generate some HK$60 million in sales revenue. Ivan Sze, the association's vice-president, said he's not worried that sales would be affected by Hongkongers heading north. "With the duty-free shopping allowance for mainland tourists being raised, we hope more mainland visitors will come to the festival to spend," Sze said. "For Hongkongers heading north, dining accounts for a large proportion of their spending. But they may not buy too much across the border, because such consumption depends on the products themselves." A vendor surnamed Ng was selling sparkling wine at the fair and said there were several mainland tour groups visiting. "There were around 20 to 30 percent of visitors from the mainland. And with organisers offering free admissions, the number of people coming on the first day was about 20 to 30 percent more than last year's opening day," he told RTHK. "It would already be great for sales this year to match the previous year's levels... I hope the government can introduce more new promotional deals, or stimulate the retail sector." An exhibitor from the Netherlands, who gave his name as Hugo, said he did not see a lot of overseas visitors. "I am happy with the people who are there, but I hope there are more people in the weekend," he said. A Macau resident surnamed Lau came to Hong Kong just for the festival and spent around HK$5,000. "The atmosphere was quite nice, and people were very friendly. The vendors were fair when doing business, and they were courteous," she said. A Tseung Kwan O resident surnamed Cheung said it took her two hours to travel from home to the event venue. "If I did not have a voucher [for the festival], I might not have come... It seemed to have few people here. It's only the first day and there were only a handful of people," she said.