Chinese restaurants thrive over Lunar New Year holiday
A restaurant sector representative said on Monday that business has recovered to 95 percent of pre-pandemic levels during the Lunar New Year holidays. On an RTHK programme, the chairman of the Association for Hong Kong Catering Services Management, Leung Chun-wah, said the initial forecast for Chinese restaurants was not upbeat, but restaurant occupancy rates jumped to over 90 percent over the past few days. He said the industry faced intense competition from Shenzhen but believes some people might have given up the idea of heading north in the end. “Maybe some people realise that the transport arrangements for crossing the border are quite inconvenient, so it's better to stay in Hong Kong and spend money,” he said.  Leung said the prices on the menu had been raised by five to ten percent because of increased labour costs and food prices.