Hong Kong restaurant revenues drop over Easter break as departures outnumber arrivals

Hong Kong restaurants suffered a 6 to 7 per cent revenue drop over the Easter weekend, an industry source said, as gains from a 15 per cent rise in mainland Chinese tourists failed to offset business lost to 1.7 million departing locals.

Industry leaders also said on Monday that the trend of locals travelling across the border and abroad during long weekends had become the “new normal”, leaving businesses to rely on mega-events and the coming Labour Day “golden week” to recover their losses.

Immigration figures showed mainland visitors made 331,517 trips to the city between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, up 15.4 per cent from 287,201 during the same period last year.

Hongkongers got a five-day public holiday from Good Friday for Easter and the Ching Ming Festival this year compared with a three-day break for mainland residents for the tomb-sweeping festival from Saturday to Monday.

Samme Cheng Pak-man, vice-chairman of catering trade body the Institute of Dining Professionals, estimated that revenue over the weekend declined by 6 to 7 per cent compared with the same period last Easter, noting that the longer holiday this year had encouraged more residents to leave the city.

“Whenever there are three or more days of holiday, Hongkongers will travel abroad. With their habit of heading to Shenzhen to spend becoming the new normal, it is only natural for the local catering industry to see a decline in business,” he said.