MoekoURAWA

Source: http://www.visiontimes.com Occupy Central, civil disobedience paralyses tourism and retail industries in Hong Kong

Summary: BBC announced that the number of mainland tourists to Hong Kong during this year’s Golden Week (a week-long national holiday in China) has slumped relative to the previous years.

WHY?

Is it because of the civil disobedience in the major tourist/financial districts of Hong Kong?

Yes, you have guessed it right!

This news overwhelms me as I am from Hong Kong. Within the span of few weeks, the country I knew very well has transformed from a thriving financial and tourist district into a land of struggle and desperation. The protest arose during one of the  busiest shopping periods, therefore I feared Hong Kong could slip into recession. The protest not only restricted the public transport systems, disrupted street safety, and negatively impact the retail, entertainment and dining district, but also created political tension between the two countries – China and Hong Kong, paralysing the incentives for mainlanders to visit to Hong Kong.

“According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the average overnight visitor spends 8,123 Hong Kong dollars ($1,046; £644) during his or her stay.”

Hence, the fall in tourism in Hong Kong leads to the fall in its GDP. Who cares? Since GDP is the primary indicator used to gauge the health of a country’s economy, many fear that Occupy Central and its aftereffect could repel foreign businesses to setting up in Hong Kong due to the threats in the external environment [PESTLE] (macroeconomic scale) and reduce the number of available jobs within the industry (microeconomic scale).

Despite the political suffrage, I agree with the article that while tourism is one area of economic growth for Hong Kong, it is not the main driver, so the impact on tourism will only be short-term. Although it may do harm to Hong Kong’s international image and could have a severe impact its economic development, I believe Hong Kong will remain as the gateway for eastern and western trade due to its existing vibrancy of the finance and entertainment sector. This is very relevant to the concept of market positioning ladder learned in class 8; Hong Kong as a city holds the position on the top of the “Asian financial economy” ladder. Therefore, it is almost impossible for financial firms to turn away from Hong Kong despite of the instability in another sector.

Work Cited
Zarina, Hussain. “HK Protests: Tourism Impact.” BBC News. BBC, 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 14 Oct. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29438025>.