The number of mainland tour groups heading to Hong Kong during the upcoming Labor Day holiday is expected to be 30 percent lower than the number that visited the region over the same period last year, according to a local tourism industry insider.
Simon Yuen Tsui-kong, the vice chairman of the Hong Kong Travel Agent Owners Association (HKTAOA), said Tuesday that he expects that the number of mainland tour groups coming to Hong Kong will drop by 30 percent to around 200 tour groups per day between May 1 and May 3, the Hong Kong-based Takungpao newspaper reported Tuesday.
Yuen cited his travel agency as an example of the trend, saying that they usually arranged travel for 15 to 20 mainland tour groups a day during the Labor Day holidays in previous years, but this year they will only book around two to three tour groups per day.
He also said some mainland travel agents have been canceling tours to Hong Kong this month despite slashing prices and he argued that the recent protests against mainland parallel traders should be blamed.
"Families would usually take their children on vacation during the holidays, but Hong Kong has been chaotic recently which has deterred tourists from coming," he said.
Ricky Tse Kam-ting, the president and chairman of the Hong Kong Inbound Tour Operators Association, agreed and told the Global Times on Tuesday that Hong Kong has entered a "tourism transition period," as the city has started to become less attractive compared to other destinations nearby.
"Mainland tourists would rather go to countries such as Japan rather than the city of Hong Kong, as the Yuan has been appreciating and Hong Kong's consumer prices are high. Also, it is becoming easier for mainlanders to travel to other countries due to simplified visa-application procedures and an increase in the number of direct flights," he, adding that the Easter holiday also saw a 30 percent decrease in the number of mainland tour groups coming to the region to around 250 tour groups per day.
"Normally, we would receive more than 400 tour groups a day," he added.
Hotels have correspondingly seen a decrease in the number of bookings they are receiving, according to the Hong Kong Inbound Travel Association. Michael Wu, managing director of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, however, told the Global Times on that he predicts that the drop in the number of mainland tour groups traveling to Hong Kong will be less than 30 percent.
