Can Hong Kong look beyond its ‘shopping paradise' era and attract tourists again?
Hong Kong can no longer count on its status as a 'shopping paradise' to lure in tourists due to a significant downturn in recent years, while soaring living costs pose hurdles to investment and development in the sector, according to experts at an industry summit.
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Speakers at the 2025 World Tourism Cities Federation Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit on Wednesday also said that Hong Kong needed to diversify its offerings and enhance hospitality to revitalise the sector.
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, who gave the opening speech for the second day of the event, said tourism was a 'fast-moving and ever-changing landscape'.
'I encourage stakeholders to break out of the boundaries from previous endeavours; even the old patterns of success,' she said.
Law pledged earlier this month to press on with rolling out new initiatives focused on local resources such as islands and coasts, after meeting with Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, whom she said was deeply concerned about how the city could enhance its offerings for visitors.
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Industry veterans said an important step was shifting away from an overreliance on retail offerings.
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