Mainland Tourists Flooding Back to HK

Tourists visit West Kowloon, but not M+ and Palace Museum

Back in 2013 there were a growing chorus of complaints from Hongkongers when the city was flooded with mainland tourists dining in residential areas like Hung Hom and Tokwawan, tour buses clogging the streets and pharmacies had to limit the amount of milk powder they sold to each customer.

Ten years later it's deja-vu with the mainland visitors back and doing the same things. Many are retirees who haven't been to Hong Kong before and want to see what's so great about this former British colony.

Why are tourists eating rice boxes on the street

Perhaps what's most shocking is how cheap their tour packages are.

When interviewed by a reporter, one said their trip was HK$3,288 including accommodation for two days in Hong Kong, a day trip to Macau, and a day each in Shenzhen and Guangzhou..

Another said their tour cost HK$1,888 for a five-day trip, including accommodation for two days in Hong Kong, two in Macau, and tickets to Ocean Park.

For a seven-day trip with two days each in Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai, the package costs HK$2,588 each.

You can eat a dinner in a Michelin-starred restaurant in Hong Kong for that cost!

Many of these tours stop in restaurants in Hung Hom and Tokwawan for lunch. There were complaints by residents that some tourists standing as they ate rice boxes on the street, cigarette butts were all over the sidewalks, and tour buses caused traffic jams.

How is having tourists eating rice boxes on the street hospitable? Yes it cuts costs, but how does that give a decent impression of the city? It's downright deplorable. There's cheap and then there's unsightly.

A photo with the Golden Bauhinia is a must

Meanwhile other residents were relieved to finally see tourists coming to the city to inject some money into the economy.

Nevertheless because these tour packages are so cheap, it's no wonder they didn't have tickets to go to M+ and the Palace Museum, two new landmarks within a stone's throw of each other on West Kowloon that opened up during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Perhaps these tourists are not the kind of visitors these museums would appreciate? Funny, as they are both government run... one would have thought they would warmly welcome these mainlanders in to see real quality art?

The bottom line is -- are these the kinds of tourists Hong Kong wants to have? Are they really going to jump-start the tourism sector?