National Day promotions boost Hong Kong retail and F&B sectors

Hong Kong's retail and food-and-beverage sectors reported strong gains from National Day Golden Week promotions, with roughly 2,000 restaurants offering discounts and malls running consumption incentives. Lawmakers noted significant foot traffic and sales increases, including a 10 to 20 per cent ris

Hong Kong retail and food and beverage (F&B) sectors reported positive results from promotional campaigns launched for the National Day Golden Week holiday, which began last Thursday, with merchants seeing a surge in both foot traffic and sales compared to last year.

Roughly 2,000 restaurants across the city offered dining discounts to celebrate National Day, with industry representatives describing this year's promotional efforts as far more successful than those in previous years. Speaking on the catering sector's performance, lawmaker Jonathan Leung Chun noted that well-promoted restaurants experienced strong demand, with queues of 40 to 50 people forming outside — a sight he said has not been seen in recent years.

Leung stressed that Korean restaurants, light dining outlets, and local cafes in particular experienced the most significant boost, while the growth rate for Chinese banquet restaurants was rather moderate. Meanwhile, major shopping malls across the city rolled out consumption incentives themed around the number "77" to mark the anniversary, with merchants reporting a highly encouraging response from visitors.

Lawmaker Peter Shiu Ka-fai, who represents the retail and wholesale sector, said that jewellers reported an increase of 10 per cent to 20 per cent in transaction volume. Shiu highlighted that certain businesses in the dried seafood sector, which has faced immense business challenges over the past two years, reported a remarkable 30 per cent jump in sales this year. He attributed the increase to widespread media coverage clarifying the allowances for tourists bringing dried seafood back to the mainland for personal use.

Over 939,000 mainland visitors arrived in Hong Kong during the first four days of the Golden Week holiday, marking a year-on-year increase of nearly 7 per cent.