Hong Kong eyes tie-up with Guangdong and Macau to sustain tourism recovery

The move comes amidst threats of the falling yuan and heating trade tensions.

Hong Kong Tourism Board chairman Peter Lam is eyeing a collaboration with Guangdong and Macau in an effort to lure more tourists amidst the threats posed by the depreciating yuan and heating trade tensions between the US and China, reports South China Morning Post. 

The yuan fell by 8.6% to 86.85 per $100 on Tuesday from April 2 whilst depreciating at the same magnitude against the US dollar to 6.81 per US$1, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

Lam proposed that the three territories join forces to promote the Greater Bay Area as a tourist attraction especially to Mainland visitors which accounted for three quarters of monthly tourism levels in June.

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“If the yuan situation and the trade war drag on, the city’s tourism will be affected,” he told SCMP. “We hope the new infrastructure – the bridge and high-speed rail services – [will help us] encourage visitors to stay longer in the city and make excursions to neighbouring areas across the border.”

Also read: APAC leads global tourism growth by 8% in Q1

Tourist arrivals maintained their heated uptrend after rising 12.8% YoY to 4.74 million visitors in June.

However, tourism levels are starting to show signs of decline as visitor arrivals hit 5.3 million in April and 4.95 million in May, raising concerns about the sustainability of the tourism recovery.