'Business during Golden Week better than expected'

RTHK：Video News

Tourism and catering sector representatives on Saturday said business activity during the National Day holiday was better than expected, and over 90 percent of rooms were booked at most hotels. Speaking on a radio programme, tourism sector lawmaker Perry Yiu said 820,000 mainland tourists had visited the SAR since October 1, according to figures from the Immigration Department. Yiu said he expects over 1,000 tour groups to visit Hong Kong for the Golden Week period. Simon Wong, president of the Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said he expects business figures for the catering sector to exceed HK$300 million. "For mainland tourists, the number of them visiting Hong Kong was two to three times more than normal," he said. "The number of mainland tourists visiting was higher than the number of Hong Kong people leaving the territory. That helps the catering sector. And the Hang Seng Index also soared, strengthening the spending power of Hong Kong people." But drone shows celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China were cancelled due to atmospheric conditions, leaving some tourists disappointed about the arrangement. Yiu said the authorities or organisers should have contingency plans and have better communication with the audience.