I read something yesterday that I personally found preposterous. China Daily ran an article, of which I'll quote its first paragraph: "Macao is expected to catch up with Hong Kong in the near future in terms of mainland tourist traffic, an expert said."
It claims that Macao will narrow the mainland tourist disparity gap by spending more on promoting tourism, especially in expanding its airport facilities and boasting its Venetian Macao Resort-Hotel. I really question whether those are leading factors in attracting more mainland tourists, if at all.
Hong Kong has more to offer than Macao. As someone who've lived in Hong Kong for over 15 years, I've seen the rise of mainland tourists over the years. The waves and waves of Mandarin-speaking, camera-wielding tourists never seem to cease at Hong Kong's favorite attractions, including the year-and-a-half old Disneyland Hong Kong. People come to Hong Kong to dine and shop, whereas they go to Macao to gamble and...drive go-karts?
There is a limit to how much one can gamble (eg 5% of one's savings)
before requiring a monthly visit to the unemployment welfare office. Yet there is no limit how much one may binge on food and buy clothings (eg more than 50% of one's savings are spent on such activities, whether abroad in Hong Kong or back in the mainland).
More evidence suggest that Hong Kong's continued success as a shopping paradise surfaced today. As Bloomberg notes in its article, "Hong Kong's retail sales probably rose more than 10 percent for a fourth straight month as tourists flooded the city and rising incomes boosted spending by local consumers." That is of course only an average estimate from a number of economists, but here's another thought: the number of tourists visiting Hong Kong is up 17% from a year earlier. That's some food for thought.
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