Tourists take photos in Hong Kong in June. Photo: VCG

Violent and radical activists, who have caused chaos and challenged the bottom line of the Basic Law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), are now destroying Hong Kong's position as a charming tourist destination, since the continuous and violent protests they carried out have now aroused safety concerns for global travelers.

Industry insiders cautioned that these violent and extreme Hong Kong young people and the power behind them are destroying their and Hong Kong's own future.

Over the past week, countries and regions around the world have issued travel alerts or notices for their citizens planning to go to the city. 

UK travelers in Hong Kong have been warned to remain "vigilant" and follow the advice of local authorities as more violent clashes happened at night, according to a foreign travel advice posted on the UK government website on Monday.

The US Consulate General Hong Kong and Macao issued a demonstration alert on Friday, saying that travelers to Hong Kong should "keep a low profile" and "exercise caution if unexpectedly in the vicinity of large gatherings or protests."

Last week, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade raised the risk level of traveling to the HKSAR to "high degree of caution" from "normal precautions," saying that Irish citizens are "strongly advised" to avoid areas where protests and unplanned public gatherings take place.

Industry insiders also expressed mounting concerns that the political situation in the once-charming travel destination will drag more on the economy, as there is possibility that chaos might extend to the services sector.

A trade union of Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific is calling for a protest on Friday at Hong Kong International Airport. The union said it is disappointed at the Hong Kong authorities' handling of an extradition bill. 

"As a person who work in the public service sector, you should not provoke a protest in a public facility like an airport, as it's like 'taking advantage of your position to fulfill your political goals,' no matter what the trade union of Cathay Pacific was seeking," Xu Xiaolei, a manager of marketing at China's CYTS Tours Holding Co, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

Moreover, trade unions represent the interests of employees of certain companies, but this kind of political event is not simply a matter of protecting employees' rights and interests, said Wang Jun, chief economist at Zhongyuan Bank. 

"The current situation in Hong Kong that radical protestors are misleading the society is unimaginable and is unacceptable in any place in the world," Wang said.

"The continuous chaos in Hong Kong would seriously disrupt its production and business order, especially when the services sectors are drawn in," Wang told the Global Times. 

Fewer tourists 

In the near term, tourism in Hong Kong, one of Asia's most popular travel destinations and a global financial hub, is bound to suffer due to these violent riots, Wang said.

Hong Kong tourism numbers and hotel occupancy rates have been shaken amid the mass and violent protests.

Hotel occupancy rates fell as much as 20 percent in June from a year earlier, and are expected to drop by 30 percent or even 40 percent in July year-on-year, according to figures released by the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU). 

Tourist arrivals from the Chinese mainland, one of the city's main tourist sources, are also losing momentum. The number of tour groups from the mainland declined to 5,641 in June from a monthly average of 7,800 earlier this year, the FTU said.

In 2018, Hong Kong's tourism revenue was $41.877 billion, up from $38.175 billion in 2017.July should be a peak season for mainland tourists to go to HKSAR, as summer vacations for students have just kicked off. But tourist arrivals from the mainland are down at least 30 percent on a yearly basis, Xu said.

"We haven't heard of a single case of tourists being hurt in the SAR. But the travel experience has been severely affected as frequent large-scale demonstrations have caused huge inconvenience in terms of traffic and accommodation," Xu said.

 "I will take a Cathay Pacific flight and transfer at Hong Kong on Friday, will it be in chaos by then? Will the airport still function normally? I'm so afraid," said a Beijing-based white-collar worker surnamed Wang.

Experts cautioned that if the situation isn't settled and riots confronting the police do not get punishments they deserve, Hong Kong's economy might get hammered and it wouldn't recover soon.

What's worse is that Hong Kong's competitiveness might be severely damaged, since it has always been known as a global center of financing, trading and shipping. Its advantages lie in its sound legal system and business environment, Wang Jun noted. 

The cultivation of a sound business environment takes time, Wang said. "Global investors' confidence would be hurt by social unrest and could not be repaired for a long time."

Analysts also urged the protestors to stop their radical activities and restore order in Hong Kong as soon as possible.
Newspaper headline: Countries issue HK travel alerts