HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s hoteliers have regrouped with new initiatives to beat seven months of downturn, with heavily discounted packages to target the domestic staycation market.
The city faced its worst plunge in tourist arrivals in November at 56%, with 2.65 million visitors in the month, according to figures released by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB).
The board expects to post a 14% drop in 2019 full-year arrivals, with the full-year numbers likely to be 56 million, according to HKTB executive director Dane Cheng.
Far East Consortium International, which operates nine hotels with 2,867 hotel rooms in Hong Kong, is putting its focus on wooing staycationers, South China Morning Post reported.
Since October it has felt the greatest impact from the drop in mainland tourists, who account for about half of its guests, said Winnie Chiu, executive director of Far East.
Chui noted that many operators are targeting families to spend their weekends in hotels in Hong Kong instead of travelling abroad to boost occupancy rates.
Hotels such as Dorsett Tsuen Wan highlight family-friendly facilities such as its 2,000 sq ft kids zone and four kids themed rooms, aimed at children aged two to eight years old. Its efforts have helped attract families during the Christmas holiday, helping to buffer occupancy rates to as high as 80%.
However, the overall picture was bleak during the Christmas period, with the mainland package tours plunging 90% to 20, down from the 200 tours in 2018, according to the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong.
In the third quarter of 2019, the average hotel occupancy rate fell to 72% from 91% the previous year, according to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau.
Five-star hotels like The Peninsula Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui were hit harder, with occupancy rate at 35% for the three months to September, down from 61% in the second quarter, according to a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange by Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels, the owner of The Peninsula.
Sun Hung Kai Properties, which operates hotels such as Four Seasons at the IFC in Central, The Ritz Carlton and W at the ICC in Kowloon and the newly opened Alva Hotel by Royal in Sha Tin, has seen some staycation business.
It has been offering discounted packages and activities aimed at couples and families to offset the weak tourist demand. This includes wine tasting, drawing and photography classes at the Four Seasons.