Poor Travel is the Hottest Trend Now

Young mainland tourists sleeping in McDonald's for the night

While Hong Kong saw 22 percent surge in mainland visitors from the year before, about 1.1 million tourists during the week-long May Day holiday, a lot of them were not staying in hotels.

They weren't even sleeping in beds.

Mostly students and young people stayed overnight in 24-hour McDonald's outlets in Hong Kong.

"Poor travel" is the new trend

Just like some homeless people who opt to find shelter in the fast-food restaurant, these tourists put their suitcases between their knees and put their heads down on the greasy tables to rest -- for several hours.

It's called "poor travel", and Hongkongers were not impressed.

The pictures of mainlanders occupying tables in McDonald's to sleep at went viral and the matter was brought up with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu.

"Hong Kong has to be a city that welcomes tourists, and tourists include all kinds of tourists," he replied. 

"There will be high-end travellers, and there will also be non-high-end travellers, but we must look at tourism as a whole, so that every tourist will find their experience in Hong Kong is an enjoyable one, is a welcome one."

However, back in December 2023, Lee pledged the government's priority would be to attract more overnight visitors and boost their spending, and focus on high quality visitor experiences.

While Hong Kong did indeed attract a lot of visitors, they definitely did not spend much, and instead found as many free attractions and cheap food as they could by consulting Xiaohongshu.

It's another sign of China's economy slowing down considerably, and the instability is making people conserve their money, or they just don't have the cash to splurge.

Which made one Hongkonger comment online: "If you can't afford it, don't travel."