A spike in business for the retail sector during the long Easter break cannot be compared to that for the Labour Day Golden Week, a representative for the sector said on Saturday, expressing hope that a rising trend in tourists from southeast Asia will be able to bridge the gulf between the two holiday periods.

Speaking on a radio programme, lawmaker Peter Shiu said Easter was not necessarily busy for retail and catering sectors due to locals making full use of the extended break to travel and mainland tourist numbers being lower as the Christian festival wasn't observed on the mainland.

However, Shiu pointed out that southeast Asian tourist numbers had picked up over the past few years.

"In recent years, we have seen the number of southeast Asian tourists rising, especially from the Philippines and Vietnam, reflecting Hong Kong's increasing attractiveness," he said.

"We hope the numbers will continue to rise."

Speaking on the same programme, Timothy Chui, executive director of Hong Kong Tourism Association, said the three-day Ching Ming festival holiday that started from Saturday on the mainland, would lead to the weekend being "rather busy" in Hong Kong as reservations for southbound travels through high-speed rail had been fully booked.

However, he said their numbers could not be compared to those expected for next month's Golden Week holiday as most of them would be short-haul travellers from Guangzhou, Guangxi and Fujian, who could only be expected to stay for a few days.

The weekend influx was in full evidence at West Kowloon station on Saturday morning as large numbers of mainland tourists could be seen arriving on high-speed trains.

A Shenzhen tourist, Liu, said he decided to come to Hong Kong due to his love for Cantopop.

"I like Eason Chan, and I like to listen to Cantopop," he said.

"I haven't been to Hong Kong before so I took the chance to come visit. I want to go to Goldmark and Times Square because it is featured in Eason Chan's music videos."

A tourist from Beijing, Huang, said she planned to spend all three days in Hong Kong and Macao.

"I think the streets in Hong Kong have great atmosphere, it is very different from the mainland. We are planning to go to the Observation Wheel in Central as well to take photos," she said.

The Immigration Department earlier said it expects around 6.44 million to go in and out of Hong Kong through its ports during the Easter and Ching Ming festival holidays.



Edited by Thomas McAlinden