The only motivation I can think of is to buy branded goods; some branded goods have certain global pricing, and there is VAT in China, whereas Hong Kong doesn't. Recently, the HK govt requested an increase in duty-free spending, and they got an increase from RMB 5k to RMB 15k, so they are betting on people coming over for high-value purchases. The other thing is that not all residents from China can freely visit HK; only certain cities are on the individual travel scheme list, and they have recently added another 9.
https://www.asgam.com/index.php/202...sit-scheme-for-travel-to-macau-and-hong-kong/
All the YOY retail sales comparisons, distorted by the consumption vouchers, will cause a big fluctuation and are good for interesting news headlines. A better picture is to see the current actual retail sales value vs 2018 numbers. I recently read a presentation from one HK REIT that compiled the actual retail sales value and plotted it against 2018 numbers; overall, as of Dec 2023, it was still down 20%. Supermarkets can still hit 90% plus, but Jewellery, watches, and medical were only 2/3 of the 2018 level, so these are probably where the Chinese visitors used to spend money. The other chart I saw was that HK outbound travel had already hit 100% of the pre-COVID level in Dec 2023, but inbound visitors were only at 60%. HK's way of life has always been going to Shenzhen and spending money there; if Chinese visitors don't return, their retail sales from a value perspective won't return to the 2018 level anytime soon. I am not going to discuss any REIT specifically. If you want to look at the slides, they are from that REIT that used to be listed on SGX and then totally moved out.
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