Vouchers a boost for Link malls

The second round of consumer vouchers has improved the city's catering sector with food and beverage businesses based in shopping malls of Link REIT (0823) reporting a recovery to 80-90 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

However, overall consumption still fell short of industry expectation as a full recovery of inbound travelers has not yet been achieved.

Speaking at an event in Link's Lok Fu Plaza, chief executive George Hongchoy Kwok-lung said that since the border reopened, the company's Shenzhen shopping mall Link CentralWalk has experienced a strong influx of Hong Kong visitors, with 30 percent of the customers coming from the SAR.

Hongchoy hopes that various large-scale events planned for the second half of the year would attract more tourists to Hong Kong and the retail sector could return to pre-pandemic levels.

Meanwhile, the company has reintroduced cycling game "Tour de Link 2023" at six of its malls from August 2 to 27 with the aim to encourage living a healthy lifestyle within the communities.

The collective distance cycled by all participants in the same district will be counted as the total district result.

The participants from the district with the highest score in each round will have their names associated to donations. Link will then donate meal coupons worth HK$100,000 to support elderly residents in need through non-government organizations in the winning districts.