Malls lose out as tourists discover HK has history
Visitors to Hong Kong are increasingly interested in the city's history and culture and are turning their backs on its shopping malls, a tourism chief said on Wednesday. Timothy Chui, who heads the Tourism Association, said travel agencies are changing itineraries so they can cash in on what he called a new trend. Chui said he has noticed visitors who have snubbed air-conditioned malls, for example, to take pictures at the clock tower in Tsim Sha Tsui to post on mainland social media. "We hope tourists will disperse to different places, such as the Geopark. This can effectively extend their stay here, whether they are on a tour or on their own. They would spend a larger amount of money, and the benefit for the economy will be greater,"  he said. George Hongchoy, CEO of Hong Kong's leading shopping mall operator Link Reit, confirmed that shops haven't enjoyed the boost they were expecting from the border reopening following the pandemic. “After the border opened, the retail sales number has not gone up as quickly as a lot of us would like to see, partly because the number of arrivals has not increased that significantly," he said. "The local spending has been quite stable in our shopping centres in the neighbourhood. But in the traditional shopping area, I guess, discretionary spending, like clothing and all that, has been a bit slow. General retail has been a bit slow. We could certainly do with more people coming to Hong Kong." Hongchoy said the food and beverage industry has returned to 80 to 90 percent of pre-Covid levels, with restaurants the main beneficiaries of the latest round of electronic consumption vouchers.