A catering representative said business was up 8 percent compared to last year during Christmas, despite residents travelling out of Hong Kong. That's partly attributed to the resumption of the multi-entry visa for Shenzhen residents as well as the SAR hosting activities such as a pyrotechnic show across the harbour. Speaking on an RTHK programme on Thursday, Simon Wong, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, says the industry has also adopted new promotion tactics to attract tourists. "We see a lot of hotels and different eateries rolling out new ideas, like using the panda theme, putting up panda decorations, and introducing new dishes. These attract mainland tourists to come to Hong Kong to spend Christmas apart from just seeing the show, as the city has a more festive atmosphere than the mainland," he said. Wong pointed out that quite a number of mainland tourists stayed in the city for a couple more days, rather than heading home immediately after a day trip. He added that hotels offering buffets benefited the most among all eateries. Meanwhile, Lau Hak-bun, the chief supervisor of The Kowloon Pearls, Precious Stones, Jade, Gold and Silver Ornament Merchants Association, told the same programme that business in his sector this Christmas was more or less the same as last year's. "The people flow this Christmas was much higher than last year's, more than a 10 percent increase. But this did not help much with our sales. The performance was almost the same as last year," he said. "With the resumption of the multi-entry visa two weeks ago, the number of mainland customers continue to increase, and sales these two days are quite good. We expect a slight increase in business by New Year's Eve," he added. Lau also said he expects gold sales to improve before the Lunar New Year as people tend to buy gold accessories to prepare for the festival, despite the price of gold having increased by around 20 percent compared to early 2024.
