A city still favoured

30 Mar 2018 2048 | World Travel News

With mainland Chinese outbound travel hitting 130 million last year, Hong Kong still tops the list of outbound destinations even as Chinese become more adventurous and eager to seek out exotic locales.

Hong Kong is still popular as a shopping destination for Chinese visitors

It is unlikely Hong Kong will lose its appeal to Chinese travellers in the short term, as arrivals numbers from China to the territory show no signs of decline. Take last year as an example – the city hosted no fewer than about 44.5 million Chinese visitors, up 3.9 per cent from 2016.

Despite already being a top source market, China’s immense population means it still has room to grow, given that only a small percentage of Chinese have been given approval to visit the territory, Hong Kong Tour Guides General Union chairman Wong Ka-ngai told TTG Asia.

“Groups from the wealthy cities of South China still make repeat visits here for shopping,” Wong noted. “The appreciation of the renminbi is an impetus as well, making it more affordable to shop here.”

He added: “From my experience, Chinese travellers nowadays opt for longhaul destinations like Europe just to be able to say ‘been there, done that’. They don’t wish to make such a long trip again and Hong Kong still remains top of their list.”

However, CTS (HK) MICE Service director Ng Hei On believes that Hong Kong clearly has to sharpen its attractions proposition to entice the Chinese market, as Chinese travellers become increasingly sophisticated and no longer crave for luxury brands or shopping.

Said Ng: “What concerns me is whether we can draw more (Chinese) high spenders and make them stay longer. It’s tough to attract them because hotel rates are especially jacked up during exhibition seasons. Therefore, they may switch to affordable destinations in South-east Asia.”