"Chinese mainland tourists have become a dynamic consumption force in Hong Kong retail market, with the extension of the Individual Visit Scheme in more Chinese mainland cities," said Yu Pang-chun, Director of Hong Kong Retail Management Association (HKRMA).

Yu said, triggered by the Individual Visit Scheme and the gradual on track of local economy, Hong Kong's consumption market is expected to witness a full scale recovery in the second half of this year.

Statistics indicated that of the overall retail business volume in Hong Kong, local consumers contributed to four fifth of the whole market, while tourists to Hong Kong contributed one fifth of the total volume and the Chinese mainland tourists' consumption volume accounts for about 70 percent of the tourists' consumption volume.

Yu said, as SARS prevailed in Hong Kong in the first half of 2003, many retailers lost their confidence in reaching the earlier predicted retail sale figure for the whole year. However, the launching of the Individual Visit in the second half of last year helped reverse the down trend.

He said the consumption capacity of the Chinese mainland tourists is relatively high, especially during the tourism peak periods.

He said, during the previous "National Day Golden Week" (October 1 to 7, 2003), the per capita consumption power of Chinese mainland tourists reached HK$10,000 (US$1,282).

Yu believed that the Individual Visit Scheme also contributed to the triggering of the improvement of the overall consumption atmosphere in Hong Kong and helping leading the consumption of local consumers.

Hit by SARS, Hong Kong's retail sale volume in 2003 reached HK$172.7 billion (US$22.14 billion), only dropped 2.34 percent over that of the previous year, which is similar to the figure predicted by his association in early 2003.

He believed that the implementation of Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) and Individual Visit Scheme made contributions to pushing ahead with Hong Kong's economic development.

Yu said, since from the beginning of October, 2003 to the end of February, 2004, Hong Kong's retail business atmosphere was quite good, with an increase of the sale volume on year-on-year basis each month.

He said the consumption atmosphere in the past two months was not as good as that of in the previous few months as a result of the down trend of the stock market and reduced sale volume of the property market.

However, he is confident in the overall recovery of Hong Kong's consumption market in the second half of this year.

Concerning the ongoing "Labor Day Golden Week", he predicted that about 400,000 Chinese mainland tourists would visit Hong Kong. If each tourist spends HK$8,000 (US$1,025) in Hong Kong, those tourists would contribute HK$3.2 billion (US$410 million) to Hong Kong's retail market.

He predicted that with the extension of the Individual Visit Scheme to more Chinese mainland market, the raising of employment rate and improved economic conditions in Hong Kong, Hong Kong's retail sale volume in 2004 would climb at least by a single digit.

He said, Chinese mainland tourists usually buy digital cameras, cosmetic and jewelry products in Hong Kong in downtown areas or tourism spots. To let more sectors and areas to benefit the Individual Visit Scheme quickly, he suggested various districts in Hong Kong to launch different themes shopping festivals, in an effort to attract tourists to their districts.

(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2004)