A 16-year tourist-fueled retail boom has been brought to a close. Here's how the city can reinvent itself.
SHANGHAI — The writing had appeared on the wall long before the coronavirus did, well before the first angry protester made a stand on Hong Kong’s streets.
“We’ve had a bigger impact in particular in Hong Kong because of the double hit…let’s assume ever in [the city’s] history,” said Jonathan Cummings, greater China president for Landor and Fitch. “It’s come in the midst or the end of a period where the retail industry has fundamentally shifted [because of e-commerce].”
In 2003, Hong Kong was one of the worst-hit locations from the SARS outbreak and the government, looking to resuscitate its ailing economy, thought up the “individual visit scheme.” Beginning that July, Hong Kong allowed travelers from Mainland China to visit the city and Macau on an individual basis — before that, they were restricted to visiting on business visas or group tours.
In 2013, the average overnight tourist to the city spent 8,123 Hong Kong dollars per head, or $1,048, according to the city’s tourism board. By 2019, average spend dropped 20 percent to 6,614 Hong Kong dollars, or $853. Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam holds a press conference on economic relief measures on May 12, 2020. JEROME FAVRE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“Typically, I’d say a large percentage of Hong Kong people would always be traveling, especially during a long weekend. This past long weekend [May Labor holiday] now you have these 7.5 million [people] who have to spend locally. That upper middle class — in the end those people still have a certain amount of budget to spend.”
“They want to appreciate and want to know the philosophy behind each brand,” she said. “They are seeking out Hong Kong-related brands and styles.” To help facilitate that, FFF has organized a series of events — from a pop-up market to fashion presentations for the next 10 days to be held offline, and for the first time, online.
“A hotel chain didn’t need us before because they can hire a design team or can pay their manufacturers. But now they can’t, it’s something you have to partner up. I give them the design for free, they do manufacturing for free, the hotel will sponsor a location pop-up for free. Everybody is doing their role, bringing one thing together.”
“We have our own web site but it’s hard because it’s all about traffic and brand awareness to bring customers in,” said Mak. “Compared to China, we’re really behind on that. Because of the last two months, people only started shopping for the supermarket and daily goods [online]. Hong Kong people need to move forward toward digital. They’re not used to shopping online or on their phone.”
“Compared to Korea and Japan, a lot of people speak English and road signs are much more accessible,” she pointed out. “You have to build upon what you have and some of these foundations are not overnight turnkey. Language is one of the things, service level, the caliber of the F&B.”
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