Since the SAR government began issuing multiple visas to mainlanders, coupled with the removal of Hong Kong tour quotas by the mainland authorities earlier this year, the number of visitors has increased dramatically.

And many Hong Kong retailers catering to mainland tourists are laughing all the way to the bank.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), the semi-official tourism organization, will release tourism receipts for the first half soon which are likely to show that the contribution of mainland visitors to retail sales was high.

"This is one area where we can most strongly benefit from the growing numbers of mainland visitors, because mainlanders are by far our biggest spenders on shopping," HKTB spokeswoman told China Daily in a statement yesterday.

Last year's figures showed that 63.7 per cent of a mainland visitor's spending went to shopping, compared with just 26.8 per cent for a visitor from Europe.

Mainland visitors spent most money - HK$5,169 (US$662.7) on average - in Hong Kong last year, compared with people from other countries and regions. They contributed 37 per cent to the total tourism receipts last year.

"This means dollar for dollar mainlanders tend to put more directly into Hong Kong's economy," said the spokeswoman.

Lavish Spenders

Mainland arrivals led the way in June, regularly a quiet month, with a year-on-year 25 per cent increase to more than 423,000, according to HKTB's latest statistics. For the first half of this year, it recorded a 43.2 per cent growth to more than 2.88 million.

"You couldn't imagine it before: Times Square full of mainland visitors and sales people speaking in Putonghua rather than English or Cantonese," said Yuki, a saleswoman at Veeko, a fashion outlet in Times Square at Causeway Bay. She said the number of mainland buyers at her shop rose at least 50 per cent in the first half of this year.

"They now are our target buyers. You know, Hong Kong people are reluctant to buy anything in this tough economic climate," she said.

Her words were echoed by another sales representative working for Broadway, one of Hong Kong's largest consumer electric stores.

"Mainland visitors always spend lavishly when buying portable home appliances such as video cameras, digital cameras, photographic equipment and MD players," said the sales representative. "They are attracted by the low price and variety," he added.

But for a visitor from Central China's Hunan Province who gave her first name as Peng, jewelry is her favorite.

"Even though I spent HK$4,000 (US$512) to HK$5,000 (US$641) yesterday when the tour guide took us to a jewelry factory yesterday, I still want to buy more today," she said.

She plans to buy cosmetics for her friends and medicine for elderly relatives as gifts, Peng added.

The five-day Hong Kong-Macao tour costs her 2,000 yuan (US$241.0) including train fare from Hunan to Hong Kong and accommodation.

Faster Growth Likely

The HKTB said it may revise upwards its forecast this year for tourist given the improved performance, especially of the mainland market. It forecast an 8.6 per cent rise in visitors from all markets in January with the mainland growth set at around 20 per cent.

HKTB Executive Director Clara Chong said in an earlier statement that if brisk growth can be maintained in the second half of 2002, arrivals for the full year should comfortably exceed 15 million.

Last year, total arrivals reached more than 13 million, 15.3 per cent up from a year earlier.

(China Daily HK Edition August 14, 2002)