Taste of 'in-depth tourism'

Mainland visitors enjoyed "in-depth tourism" by going to museums in West Kowloon Cultural District, camping in Pui O, and buying vintage cameras in Sham Shui Po, as more than 760,000 tourists entered Hong Kong in the first two days of the Labor Day Golden Week.

But a tourism veteran said half of the travelers have not returned to Hong Kong compared to the prepandemic period.

Among the 760,000 who arrived in Hong Kong throughout the weekend over 370,000 were mainlanders.

The M+ museum, which usually closes on Mondays, stayed open yesterday, while Hong Kong Palace Museum, which should be closed today, will open from 10am to 6pm.

Both museums were packed with travelers yesterday.

Visitor Susanna from Shenzhen said M+ is the best museum in Asia.

"It is a nice opportunity to bring my kids to watch Yayoi Kusama [exhibition] over the holiday," Susanna said.

Travelers were seen at Fuk Wa Street in Sham Shui Po buying second-hand digital cameras.

Eric from Shanghai said shooting with vintage cameras is a trend among mainland youngsters.

Vocational Training Council project manager Dennis Wong Ka-wing, who is a tourism veteran, explained that young mainlander travelers are no longer targeting shopping in Hong Kong, but prefer taking in-depth cultural exploration tours.

He added that although Hong Kong is still attractive as a shopping and food paradise, he suggested the government promote places with unique cultural characteristics.

Jewelry shops in Mong Kok said they saw a 20 percent growth in business compared with the previous weekend.

"We did see an increase in customer flow these two days, but it's less likely that our business would increase as [much] as the customer flow," jewelry shop manager Lau said.

Speaking on radio, wholesale and retail constituency lawmaker Peter Shiu Ka-fai expects the retail performance to recover by 60 to 70 percent of prepandemic levels, but added that the sector still faces an acute manpower shortage.

Kowloon Central constituency lawmaker Kitson Yang Wing-kit said the problem of crowded streets in To Kwa Wan has improved after the Travel Industry Authority managed to divert about 30 tour groups to other areas.

"There used to be some 100 groups that would visit To Kwa Wan every day," he said.

Hong Kong Tourism Association executive director Timothy Chui Ting-pong said the city only saw less than half of mainland tourists compared to prepandemic levels, as it takes over a month for travelers to get an entry permit to Hong Kong.

As of 4pm yesterday, the city saw some 217,000 travelers, which was half of the Immigration Department's estimation earlier.

Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and Lo Wu remained the busiest, with each seeing about 40,000 travelers, while the West Kowloon Station also saw more than 36,000 incoming passengers.

Despite the Golden Week holiday in the mainland continuing until tomorrow, some Hongkongers rushed back.

Ng and his family chose to leave the mainland via the Lo Wu port as the kids had school.

"We chose to depart the hotel earlier so that we can avoid the peak hours. It was still smooth when we crossed the border."

eunice.lam@singtaonewscorp.com