Major shopping malls closed during the weekend amid escalated violence and rioting activities in Hong Kong Photo: Chen Qingqing/GT

 

Major shopping malls closed during the weekend amid escalated violence and rioting activities in Hong Kong Photo: Chen Qingqing/GT

Hong Kong's tourism sector suffered a significant downturn during the National Day holidays, with the number of tourists to the city dropping roughly 50 percent in the first six days of the seven-day holiday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Tuesday.

"The winter is coming," Lam said, commenting on the city's current economic situation. Every industry is now struggling and heading toward a downturn, amid continuous social unrest which has already evolved into riots. "More supportive policies are needed to help small and medium-sized enterprises," she said.

A 40-year-old Shanghai resident named Christine Wang traveled to Hong Kong for three days during the "Golden Week", a name given to the week-long holiday. "The business in the city is gloomy," she said. "I went to Hong Kong many times before. In my impression, Hong Kong is a prosperous international city, but this time I felt the atmosphere was bad. Many stores on streets and at the airport have been closed," she told the Global Times.

The ongoing social unrest led mainland tourists to dismiss the city in favor of neighboring countries and regions. Asian countries including Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam saw the most Chinese tourists, according to data from China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

In the first five days of the holiday, the number of tourists to Macao surged about 40 percent, with tourists from the mainland up around 10 percent, Macao Daily reported, citing official data.

"What a pity for Hong Kong to deteriorate to such a situation," Wang said.