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
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
