Hong Kong retailers bank on duty-free quota hike to boost sales
By Jessie Pang and Marcus Lum
HONG KONG, July 5 (Reuters) -An increase in the duty-free quota for Chinese tourists to Hong Kong may go some way to support the city's retailers, but visitors from the mainland say prices are still unattractive.
From expanding the solo travel scheme for Chinese visitors to Hong Kong in May to bumping up the duty-free shopping quota, the China and Hong Kong governments are striving to lure tourists from across the border.
This comes as Hong Kong residents increasingly flock to the mainland for shopping and entertainment, saying prices there are generally lower and the service is better, and the Asia financial hub struggles to recover after the pandemic.
Starting from July 1, the duty-free shopping quotas for Chinese tourists in Hong Kong were increased from 5,000 yuan ($688) per trip to 15,000 yuan for those visiting via six land border control points.
The new measure will be expanded to include Chinese visitors entering Hong Kong at all border control points from Aug. 1.
The government said it expects the measure to bring additional shopping spending of between HK$8.8 billion ($1.13 billion) and HK$17.6 billion to the city.
Annie Tse Yau On-yee, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, said it would take time to see the benefits of the changes.
Hong Kong's May retail sales slumped 11.5% from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, reflecting a surge in outbound trips, strength in the local currency and a high base of comparison for visitor spending last year.
"Considering the speedy business downturn, together with high rent and manpower costs, other economic factors, such as the strong Hong Kong dollar, also pose challenges to the retail industry," said Bond Law, an executive director of the association, adding the situation is expected to remain difficult for some time.
Harbour City, a shopping mall in the tourist area of Tsim Sha Tsui, said it believes "this policy change will have a positive impact, driving up retail sales and attracting more tourists to Hong Kong and to our mall".
Hong, 49, and his wife Chen 43, who were visiting Hong Kong from China's Guangxi province for the first time, said the cost of dining in the city was still a barrier.
"The food here is five times more expensive than the food back in the city where I currently live," Chen, who only wanted to be known by her surname, said as she held bags of clothes and cosmetics from various luxury brands.
The number of Chinese visitors has risen in recent months, according to data from the tourism board, but analysts say consumption trends have changed.
Cost-conscious Chinese tourists have replaced many of the cash-rich mainland travellers who once flocked to Hong Kong, with some only interested in free walking tours of the city and taking photographs.
Sienna Zheng, 29, a tourist from the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen said she did not plan to purchase many luxury goods during her fourth visit to Hong Kong.
"I came to visit different places for photos and try out the foods," Zheng said, adding that even though the products in Hong Kong are tax-free the prices are similar to the mainland.
($1 = 7.2701 Chinese yuan)
($1 = 7.8093 Hong Kong dollars)
Reporting by Jessie Pang and Marcus Lum; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree and Jacqueline Wong
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
