A vistor looks at the wax figures of late Chinese leaders Mao Zedong (left) and Deng Xiaoping at an exhibition in APM yesterday. The shopping mall held the 60th anniversary themed exhibition to attract more visitors ahead of the upcoming National Day holidays. Edmond Tang

HONG KONG: Local retail industry is set and ready to go, rubbing hands together in eager anticipation of big sales with the approach of the National Day holidays. With the economy improving, the appetite among consumers for shopping appears to be growing.

Hotels and travel agents have been busy handling reservations - as travelers set to head for the city's legendary attractions, says the Executive Director of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong Joseph Tung Yao-chung.

He predicted the number of visitors will soar at least 10 percent above last year's numbers.

Tung said mainland tourists are eager for travel since they're getting an extra holiday on top of the usual seven days this year. He also noted that more Russians are headed for Hong Kong, owing to the visa-free policy that started in July.

"It is a golden time for the retail industry to embrace the large number of travelers," he added.

Indeed, the sector has high expectations for the golden week, especially from the mainland market.

The APM shopping mall has been arranging free shuttle bus service to bring mainland visitors to the mall. It will open a new route for 100 to 200 entrepreneurs and executive officers in Guangzhou during the golden week.

"We target this group of visitors because their spending power is very strong," said Maureen Fung, leasing general manager of Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency.

She expected the average consumption of these visitors to be around HK$4,000 to HK$6,000, up to 50 percent more than other travelers.

The mall will also open three more routes for shoppers in Shenzhen, especially those living in high-end residential areas.

Fung said the promotion budget for the holidays has soared 50 percent over last year to HK$1.5 million. She estimated the visitor flow will increase 20 percent to 2,300,000, with mainland visitors constituting up to 15 percent. She predicted revenues will reach HK$68 million, an increase of 15 percent.

Another mall Olympian City is also aiming its promotions at mainlanders and is cooperating with mainland travel agents to draw more visitors to its shops.

Irene So, retail marketing and promotions general manager of Sino Property Services, which owns Olympian City, observed that more mainlanders reside in the vicinity of Olympian City. She said shops in the mall depend heavily on this high-end group. Accordingly, the shopping center increased its promotion fee by 10 percent over last year to HK$2.55 million.

So expected the number of mainland visitors to rise from the usual 10 percent to 15 percent during the National Day holidays.

Altogether 5,080,000 visitors are expected to visit the mall, a 12 percent increase. So predicts a surge of 11 percent in revenue to HK$81.6 million.

In addition, one local jeweler is confident about the holiday market.

"The stock market and property market have been doing well recently. Together with the celebration of the National Day, the shopping sentiment will be very rich in Hong Kong," said Luk Fook Holdings financial controller Paul Law.

The sales of Luk Fook have been improving since May. Law expected single-digit growth during the holidays. He explained the conservative estimate is due to the rising price of gold.

(HK Edition 09/24/2009 page1)