Business booms for Hong Kong restaurants and shopping malls over Easter break as consumption vouchers help to fuel surge
- Residents were eager to spend their government consumption vouchers, snapping up electronics and premium groceries
- Industry professionals estimate business grew by 20 per cent in catering sector as more people dined out during break
Hong Kong’s catering and retail sectors have reported a double-digit surge in business during the Easter holidays, despite social-distancing curbs reining in some of their growth, according to industry professionals.
The boom in business was also fuelled by the government’s distribution of the first half of HK$10,000 (US$1,275) in consumption vouchers earlier this month, with residents snapping up goods such as electronics and premium groceries.
Industry professionals estimated that business in the catering sector grew by 20 per cent during the four-day Easter break as more people dined out, while footfall in some shopping centres increased twofold.
“We see many people coming out, especially to shopping malls and other tourist areas such as Sai Kung,” according to Simon Wong Ka-wo, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades.
“Many people are queuing up to enter restaurants and business has increased to a certain extent. But we still can’t operate after 6pm and a two-person limit per table still hinders our growth,” he added, referring to the current social-distancing curbs.
