Fortune seems to have favoured Macau over Hong Kong during last week’s Spring Festival.
But both territories suffered from the ongoing change in Mainland Chinese travel habits.
Data from the Macau Government Tourism Office showed 548,536 tourists arrived in Macau between February 7 and 10 – which equates to a 5.2 per cent increase over last year’s holiday season. Some 70 per cent of them came from Mainland China.
However, anecdotal reports from Macau shopkeepers say the increased visitor numbers during the Spring Festival retail break did not translate into higher spending in stores.
According to the Macau Daily Times “a majority” of retailers it spoke to reported “a drastic drop in business” from mainland visitors.
One – a fireworks vendor – reported a 50 per cent decline in sales, and other retailers selling apparel and beauty products also reported a decline.
One cosmetics retailer said sales rose 10 per cent, and snack food stores reported trading was on a par with last year.
In Hong Kong, where retail sales estimates have yet to be reported, the number of Mainland Chinese visitors fell by about 10 per cent – and the number of groups by an alarming 70 per cent, to about 120 groups per day. So clearly, there will have been a negative impact on retail sales for the week.
Shopkeepers in Mong Kok, where a violent riot erupted on Monday, reported far fewer tourists in the area.
“From Monday till now, no one would like to come to this area,” one retailer told local news media.
“There are more police than tourists. My business is not even half as good as last year, what can I do? What should I do after the holiday?”
But on the mainland, Ministry of Commerce data shows retail sales rose 11.2 per cent during the Lunar New Year ‘Golden Week’ from February 7 to 13. According to the data, sales by retailers and catering firms grew to about 754 billion yuan, or US$114.879 billion.