Tourism rebound driving retail recovery in Hong Kong, finance chief says

Hong Kong’s strong tourism rebound has driven a steady recovery in retail sales and the government will keep up the momentum with a packed calendar of mega-events in the coming months, the finance chief has said.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also said on Sunday the government would work with different sectors to attract more visitors and encourage them to stay longer to maximise the economic benefits of mega-events.

Writing on his weekly blog, Chan noted that retail sales in August hit HK$30.3 billion (US$3.89 billion), up by 3.8 per cent, year on year, exceeding market expectations.

“This marks four consecutive months of growth and the largest increase in 20 months,” he said. “With a stable housing market, strong stock performance and rising tourist numbers, local retail is steadily recovering.”

He said his confidence was fuelled by the improving tourism numbers. During the first four days of mainland China’s eight-day National Day “golden week” holiday that began on October 1, Hong Kong welcomed more than 877,000 visitors from across the border, up by 7 per cent against a year ago.

“Overseas visitors also reached 126,000, a year-on-year increase of more than 30 per cent,” he said.