Evening shows 'key to night economy'

Hong Kong should organize more art performances in the evenings to help revitalize the city's night economy instead of trying to increase competition between restaurants, Institution of Dining Art chairman Simon Wong Kit-lung said.

His call came after Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said on Sunday in his blog that the administration would work to revive night bazaars in the short term to consolidate the economic recovery.

Wong said yesterday a common current problem for restaurants was not having sufficient patrons during dinner time, with its seriousness rendering even the rollout of discounts ineffective to boost receipts.

As such, he said, the first priority is to revive the economy, and the administration can help in this regard by holding more shows and performances to increase pedestrian traffic.

"Late-night meal sales have been relatively sluggish since the pandemic. Unfortunately, the effect of that and a manpower shortage has caused restaurants to stop serving earlier to reduce losses," said Wong in his social media post.

"The root of the problem is generally in the weak Hong Kong market, not just in late-night sales," he added.

"If the government sponsors more performances and allows free admission to shows people have to eat and drink before and after shows, which could boost the general economy more than creating street markets.

"Real economic revival must come from a general improvement in the market. If the Hang Seng Index rises above 30,000 points again, the catering industry will have better sales naturally."

Peter Shiu Ka-fai, who represents the wholesale and retail sector in the Legislative Council, said the administration can learn from night markets in Bangkok and Taiwan.

"Street markets can keep selling household goods in the daytime and switch to selling food at night. The government could arrange clean-ups at midnight," he said.

Shiu also supports amendments to the Noise Control Ordinance that forbids people from using loudspeakers in public spaces but not in one go as that will contradict the administration's wish to boosting night-time sales as many hawkers and retailers used them to encourage sales.

New People's Party Legco member Dominic Lee Tsz-king said nighttime sales depends on the atmosphere of Hong Kong, and said "the government could encourage malls to extend opening hours to host night markets and busking activities."

"The temporary food factory license is for heating up precooked food only. Cooking safety has much improved. The government could look into expanding the types of food allowed under the licenses," said Lee.

He also said markets such as night time Mid-Autumn Festival and Christmas celebrations and Lunar New Year markets could be held for longer periods such as at least three weeks or a month.