After the COVID-19 pandemic, Hong Kong’s economic “return to normal” has fallen short of expectations. In order to attract more tourists to Hong Kong for consumption and revitalise the market, Hong Kong SAR government has spared no expense in upgrading “Night Vibes Hong Kong” to “Day and Night Vibes,” organising events across all 18 districts in a “fisherman casting a wide net” style. However, the “vibrant activities” in various districts seem unsustainable, and their effectiveness is not particularly notable, repeatedly facing public scrutiny. Tourism revenue is plummeting, and in recent years, locals have been enthusiastic about heading north for consumption, leading to a succession of news about local restaurants and shops closing down, with streets and alleys in many districts filled with “prime shops” available for rent.
Some media claim that social media platforms like Xiaohongshu are flooded with videos teaching “$0 travel” to Hong Kong, coupled with the “sustained economic downturn” in the mainland, resulting in significant changes in mainland tourists’ travel and consumption patterns, with their former lavishness gone. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has stated that Hong Kong should “tolerate” different types of tourists, but third-generation rich internet celebrity Derek Chung holds a different view. He recently turned his guns on some mainland residents who engage in “budget travel” to Hong Kong, harshly criticising them for “eating and taking, and after taking, still badmouthing Hong Kong, saying Hong Kong is garbage, has low CP value, and isn’t worth coming back to,” accusing them of being “uncultured and low-class.” At the same time, he also blamed the Hong Kong SAR government for spending huge resources to attract such tourists—almost “losing everything”. This has sparked heated discussions across the city.
However, a fact overlooked by the vast majority of people is that, while Xiaohongshu is also filled with guides for “$0 travel” to Macau, most mainland tourists have not opted to “budget travel” there! Data from the Statistics and Census Service of the Macau SAR Government shows that, after mainland tourists’ spending in Macau in 2023 exceeded the pre-COVID-19 levels of 2019, the figures for 2024 continued to rise steadily, reaching approximately 61.3 billion Macau patacas. In fact, according to the “2024 China Travellers’ Outbound Satisfaction Top 10 Destinations” released by the China Tourism Academy, Macau rose from 3rd place the previous year to 1st place in 2024, becoming for the first time the most satisfying outbound tourism destination for mainland travellers. Hong Kong, which was called the “big brother” by former Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng, only ranked 6th. Hong Kong’s elite nobility seem not to have considered: if mainland tourists are being “stingy” toward Hong Kong due to the “teachings” of Xiaohongshu and their own “wallets hardening,” then where do their generous mindset and money for “lavishing” on Macau come from?