A prominent economist in Hong Kong predicts that the arrival of tourists is going to be minimal in November. The number was also disappointing in October as well. While anticipating the coming month retail sales and tourist arrival, the economist revealed that the present unrest and protest in the country would not encourage tourists to come to the country. Martin Rasmussen, an economist from Capital Economics, mentioned the situation particularly in November on Tuesday. He stated that the number of violence and protests increased significantly during the month.Â
Hong Kong previously ruled by the British Empire for a long time. The UK transferred its colony to the Chinese government in 1997. In recent days, the protest against the Chinese government is increasing rapidly in the region for demanding democracy. The rally and demonstration turned into severe clashes between law enforcing agencies and protesters in some areas. The protests started when the government of Hong Kong was planning to pass an extradition bill for transferring criminals to China. Later, the protesters demanded a greater democracy in the region.Â
Statistics of Incoming Tourists
The recent report released by the Hong Kong government revealed that the retail sales number fall by 24.3% in October, in comparison to October 2018. The officials confirmed that the dip is the highest in the entire history of Hong Kong. On the other hand, the tourist number decreased by a whopping 43.7% in October. Hong Kong only received 3.31 million tourists in the whole month, the Tourism Board of Hong Kong confirmed. The number was not encouraging in the last month as well. In September, the country saw a dip of 34.2%.Â
The arrival of Chinese tourists has declined to a significant level. The country witnessed a drop of 45.9% during October. The negative media coverage and widespread protests across the region said to be the primary cause behind such a massive fall.Â
