Mainland Tourists Arrivals to Hong Kong Fell Over Holiday

(WSJ) Maybe it was all the fights over peeing in the streets, the angry chants to "go home," or increasingly vocal complaints from locals. And then, of course, there's China's slowing economic growth.

Whatever the reason, for the first time since 2005, the number of mainland tourists flocking to Hong Kong over the first three days of the Labor Day holiday dropped this year.

Between May 1 and May 3, according to data from the Hong Kong Immigration Department, some 388,070 mainland Chinese tourists entered Hong Kong. That's down 2% from the same holiday period last year, when 394,476 visited Hong Kong.

The number of mainland holidaymakers crossing the border on the first day of the holiday, meanwhile, dropped 12% from last year.

If mainland visitors are loath to visit Hong Kong, perhaps that's no surprise. Spats between locals and mainland Chinese aren't unusual in the southern Chinese city over everything from whether mainland Chinese children should be allowed to pee in the streets (spoiler alert: Hong Kong residents aren't thrilled about the idea) to the fact that the tourist influx has helped drive up prices and occasionally empty shelves of certain items, such as baby formula.

But industry members say Hong Kong locals shouldn't be so quick to reject their Chinese compatriots from across the border, some 35 million of which annually visit Hong Kong, a city of seven million. 

The former British colony returned to China in 1997 but continues to maintain its own independent political and economic systems, as well as—most importantly from the perspective of China's luxury shoppers—lower taxes. Between 2008 and 2012, the number of mainland tourists coming to Hong Kong rose by around 20% per year, according to official data.

In particular, Yiu Si-wing, a lawmaker representing the city's tourism sector, says that angry locals who are most vociferous in their protests against mainland tourists "don't understand China."

"The actions OF those who oppose mainland tourists are too radical—they ruin the reputation of Hong Kong as a civilized international city," Mr. Yiu said.

"Widespread reports on pee [incidents] could have scared off some mainland tourists ," Mr. Yiu said, referring to an April incident in which mainland Chinese parents clashed with locals over whether their child should be allowed to urinate in the busy commercial center of Mongkok.

From easing visa restrictions to attempting various video campaigns (as one mayor in Italy appealed in an ad, "Chinese friends: invade us!"), cities around the world are vying for Chinese tourists—or more specifically, the promise of thick wallets they bring—and Hong Kong shouldn't turn its nose up at what they can offer, Mr. Yiu said.

"Hong Kong should not lose this opportunity simply because of some trivial grievances and misunderstanding with mainland Chinese," he said.

Source: Wall Street Journal 

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