HK suffers worst golden week following Occupy protest
Hong Kong tourism experienced its worst National Day holiday, dubbed as "golden week," due to civil unrest in the post-Occupy protest era.
The number of visitors to Hong Kong during the holiday increased by 1.5 percent compared with the same period last year, while the number of mainland tourists rose by 2.3 percent. The number of foreign visitors, however, slid 2.8 percent, according to the Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau.
The number of mainland tourists to Hong Kong during the National Day holiday used to rise by about 15 percent annually. Since 2014, when the Occupy protest took place, the visitor growth rate slowed, with only a 6.8 percent rise in 2014, Michael Wu Siu-ying, managing director of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, told the Global Times.
"The civil disobedience campaign against mainlanders is one of the factors affecting local tourism, as the negative news has spread," Wu said, adding that other factors include the currency rate and more lenient visa requirements of nearby countries.
Ricky Tse Kam-ting, chairman of the Hong Kong Inbound Tour Operators Association, also told the Global Times that mainland tour groups to Hong Kong dropped by 10 to 15 percent during the holiday compared with 2014.
