Hong Kong’s retail and catering sector have been given a boost during the National Day Golden Week holiday, from Oct 1 to 7, with the number of Chinese mainland tourists visiting the city having exceeded expectations.

According to the Immigration Department's statistics, about 1.41 million mainland visitors came to Hong Kong between Oct 1 and 7, more than the earlier forecast of 1.29 million.

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Shiu Ka-fai, the lawmaker representing the wholesale and retail constituency, said: “The sales figures of the cosmetics and pharmacy sector have risen 20 to 30 percent, with the sales of some individual stores increasing 50 to 60 percent. The footwear industry also saw a 20 to 30 percent increase in sales, which is a significant improvement compared to last year. Mainland tourists are flocking into Hong Kong to buy gold as the city’s gold prices are still 10 percent cheaper than on the mainland.”

Shiu said he believes that the strong Golden Week retail performance was indirectly supported by external factors, including a decrease in mainland tourists traveling to Japan, the floods in Thailand, and instability in the Middle East, leading many tourists to choose Hong Kong as a holiday destination instead.

Hong Kong-listed cosmetics retailer Sa Sa International Holdings posted strong growth momentum during the National Day holiday, with offline sales in Hong Kong and Macao increasing over 60 percent year-on-year, and same-store sales also surging over 50 percent annually. The number of transactions, the average transaction value, and the number of items per transaction all recorded significant year-on-year increases.

The beauty product retailer said it has launched various large-scale and high-profile promotional campaigns, featuring a range of best-selling beauty products that are particularly popular with mainland tourists.

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Wong Ka-wo, president of Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said the overall business volume of the local catering sector increased by about 10 percent annually during the Golden Week holiday because the number of mainland tourists visiting the city exceeded expectations.

He said that various activities during the Golden Week holiday, such as the fireworks display, attracted tourists and locals to both sides of Victoria Harbour, which greatly helped the local catering industry.

“Although the consumption patterns of mainland tourists have changed, with the average spending per person still about 10 percent lower than before the pandemic, the current pattern benefits small and medium-sized restaurants more, as more tourists do not necessarily go to high-priced restaurants but instead seek out local food stalls,” Wong said.