It's like being chased away." Citizens complained about the service attitude: "When we go out to eat, Hong Kong's tourism report card is not as good as expected.
According to Hong Kong media reports, Hong Kong has more than 1 million daily arrivals and departures during the Christmas holiday. Although the Hong Kong market is very popular, industry insiders admit that holiday consumption in Hong Kong is not as good as expected, and it is a "prosperous business but not prosperous".
Shao Jiahui, a member of the wholesale and retail sector of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, said that the retail market in Hong Kong during the Christmas long holiday was average. Although many places are crowded and even require road closures, the spending power of local residents and tourists is not what it was before the epidemic. For example, he said jewelers originally expected sales during this year's Christmas period to increase by 10% compared with last year, but in the end they were only flat; sales of other retail products were also average. Shao Jiahui believes that this is related to the weakness of the global economy. Hong Kong's stock market, property market and exports have all weakened, resulting in citizens' spending power not being as strong as in the past.
Liang Fangyuan, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Tourism Federation, mentioned that the number of tourists entering Hong Kong during the holidays is not ideal and is far behind expectations. In the post-epidemic period, the willingness of tourists from Europe, America, Southeast Asia or the mainland to travel to Hong Kong has declined. She admitted that hotel rooms in Hong Kong are expensive, and even if many tourists come to Hong Kong, they only stay for a short time and end up staying overnight in mainland cities such as Shenzhen or Zhuhai.
Fewer people come to Hong Kong during the holidays, and more people leave Hong Kong. "The Christmas period is generally a business for locals and overseas tourists." Cui Dingbang, director-general of the Hong Kong Tourism Promotion Association, said that the three-year epidemic has prevented many Hong Kong people from leaving Hong Kong during the Christmas holiday. About one-third of Hong Kong people go to the mainland or overseas during this holiday. travel. He estimated that the number of Hong Kong citizens visiting the mainland has exceeded the pre-epidemic level. Many citizens go to the mainland to participate in short-distance tour groups or independent travel. "The mainland has made rapid progress in recent years. Many hotels are luxurious and comfortable. Hong Kong citizens go to Shenzhen or the Greater Bay Area cities." The travel experience is very good.”
Hong Kong tourism industry operators are worried about local Hong Kong people voting with their feet. In Shao Jiahui's view, one of the major bottlenecks in Hong Kong tourism is the lack of manpower and the inability to improve consumer experience. "Both locals and tourists have felt that 'there are fewer smiles, and the service attitude needs to work harder'." Shao Jiahui said that it is not just tourists now, "local citizens are saying all day long, 'Going out for a meal is like being beaten. People are chasing ducks, and it is rare to hear that the service attitude is satisfactory." He called on the government and the industry to work hard to show a more welcoming attitude to tourists, so that tourists can feel like they are "back to their own place." He also hopes that the supplementary labor program launched by the government can improve the problem of short manpower and "give our consumers more smiles." At the same time, expect Hong Kong hotel and air ticket prices to drop to 2018 levels.
Currently, the SAR government and the Travel Industry Council have launched the "Creative·In-depth Travel" itinerary design competition to encourage the industry to design in-depth travel itineraries based on six major themes. The jury will select 6 "Supreme Itineraries", which will be announced at the end of next month at the earliest. . Leung Fangyuan believes that these routes should allow tourists to re-understand the unique features of Hong Kong, including Chinese and Western culture, walled villages and water culture, so as to attract more mainland and overseas tourists to visit Hong Kong.
