The chairwoman of the Retail Management Association, Annie Yau Tse, on Friday said the number of tourists coming to Hong Kong from the mainland for the Golden Week holiday resembled a typical weekend.

Speaking on an RTHK radio programme, Tse pointed out the number of locals staying in the city on October 1 was "quite ideal".

"This might be because we could enjoy movies with half-priced tickets... The Golden Week holiday is not a long vacation for Hongkongers, therefore it had not driven people to travel out of the region, or head north like the long holiday," she said.

"Even though some did travel north, there were still locals staying in Hong Kong. This led to the flow of people, as well as local consumption to slightly improve."

But Tse said the impact was offset by a consumption downgrade among mainland visitors.

"Even though the flow of tourists was better than usual, everyone is saying it was similar to a usual weekend. We're not saying that the flow of tourists improved a lot, just that the flow during October, the first Golden Week, is like a normal weekend," she said.

"But because of a consumption downgrade among visitors, the level of spending was incomparable to last year's Golden Week holiday. The situation has got much worse this year."

Tse believes the trend of locals heading north is likely to continue, saying society has to accept the situation.

She suggested the region to make it easier for Greater Bay Area (GBA) residents to head to the SAR more often.

"If we manage to attract more people, like GBA residents to come to Hong Kong more often to spend, to spend more each day, and to make it more convenient for them to come and spend, like I always said, with a tax-free quota of 12,000 yuan, by travelling to the SAR 10 times, the quota will become 120,000 yuan. That's even better than the annual tax-free quota of 100,000 yuan in Hainan. "

"Therefore, the frequency of travelling to the SAR is what it matters. If we can encourage them to come to the city more to spend, it will help drive our sector."