Restaurants eye 20% business bump as National Day celebrations kick off

Hong Kong kicked off National Day “golden week” celebrations on Tuesday with two People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warships thrilling onlookers at Victoria Harbour and the catering sector betting on a business bump of up to 20 per cent amid a raft of festivities in the city.

Michael Leung Chun-wah, chairman of the Association for Hong Kong Catering Services Management, gave the upbeat forecast as about 4,000 restaurants – the highest number in three years – joined its campaign to offer a 30 per cent discount for dine-in customers.

“This year’s golden week is special as it lasts for eight days instead of seven, while it also overlaps [with] the Mid-Autumn Festival, so the celebrations are double,” he said.

“A large number of outlets have heeded our call to offer attractive discounts to patrons. Buoyed by the four-day port call of the PLA ships, we expect a very vibrant atmosphere in the city with outlets enjoying a 10 per cent to 20 per cent increase in business.”

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that Hong Kong could expect 1.54 million mainland Chinese visitors over the holiday, an increase of 11 per cent from last year, with around 1,200 tour groups visiting the city.

The anticipated uptick could see the city’s tourism numbers return to levels last seen at the peak in 2018, when the tally reached 1.52 million.