View Poll Results: Are there too many tourists in Hong Kong?

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  • Absolutely – this is an endemic infestation

    12 34.29%
  • In certain places (Gucci, Fendi, Prada) at certain times (damn idling tour busses)

    5 14.29%
  • Not really – I don’t live in Lo Wu

    0 0%
  • No such thing as too many – the more they come the more they’ll spend; the more the merrier

    1 2.86%
  • Tourists??? There are too many people in Hong Kong period.

    17 48.57%
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When does a city have too many tourists?

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  1. #1

    When does a city have too many tourists?

    The most outspoken advocate for limiting tourism is Green Sense, an environmental group. Although Hong Kong has not conducted a formal study of tourism carrying capacity, Green Sense’s president, Roy Tam, says general comments from the public is telling enough about the overcrowding of tourists. “The number is too high, making Hong Kong very crowded,” he said.

    Among the factors that go into determining a city’s carrying capacity from tourism, one component is its social carrying capacity, which an E.U. report describes in part as the tourism load that does not affect “the sense of identity, life style and social patterns and activities of host communities.”

    http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/glob...-tourists/7384

    Are there too many tourists in Hong Kong?

    photo: xiaming
    dear giant likes this.

  2. #2

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    I'd also like to pose the question - when does a city become "Full up"? just how crowded does it have to get? I remember thinking this when being pushed by a guard onto a crammed train in Tokyo at rush hour, despite a timetable of a train every couple of minutes!

    dear giant likes this.

  3. #3

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    With regard to this thread, I don't think Hong Kong has any more tourists proportionally than, say, Singapore or London.


  4. #4

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    Do you really notice them unless you go to the 'tourist places'?


  5. #5

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    I would say a laymen's view would be HK hotels at greater than 95% capacity. I would assume that the no. of rooms available is at maximum capacity (?) But that doesn't take into account the people streaming in from the border.

    Edit: Just reading on the Govt website that hotel capacity is 87% so my theory is most likely wrong. Total of 64,000 hotel rooms available in HK, 42 million visitors with nearly 70% now coming from the mainland.

    I would be interested to know how many are the suitcase carrying day trippers with their own 'import business'.

    Last edited by virago; 28-09-2012 at 11:41 AM.

  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by bryant.english:
    Do you really notice them unless you go to the 'tourist places'?
    You would call Tuen Mun, Tsuen Wan or Sheung Shui "tourist places"?. It's crawling with Mainlanders there, affecting the daily lives of locals to a great degree.

  7. #7

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    Really? Wow. When you put it like that it doesn't seem that bad in HK.

  8. #8

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    Though people dislike the mainland tourists it adds a significant proportion of the HK GDP from a retail point of view. As I sell products in HK market I have a vested interest in this and support it.

    I think alot of HK'ers forget this and don't realise the indirect benefit that flows through with work, funding and company tax revenues. Many see it as a negative as they think they consider they don't benefit from it which is a wrong assumption to make.

    We all know that mainland tourists spend a significant more while travelling. So if a society has spendthrift Brits, Aussies and Americans tourists or a society that likes to spend then I know which one I would choose.


  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by bryant.english:
    Do you really notice them unless you go to the 'tourist places'?
    If you live in/near certain places in Kowloon, or Hong Kong, especially Central and Causeway Bay, they are all over all the time.

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by virago:
    Though people dislike the mainland tourists it adds a significant proportion of the HK GDP from a retail point of view. As I sell products in HK market I have a vested interest in this and support it.

    I think alot of HK'ers forget this and don't realise the indirect benefit that flows through with work, funding and company tax revenues. Many see it as a negative as they think they consider they don't benefit from it which is a wrong assumption to make.

    We all know that mainland tourists spend a significant more while travelling. So if a society has spendthrift Brits, Aussies and Americans tourists or a society that likes to spend then I know which one I would choose.
    I am sure you will continue to support it until your landlord raises your rent 5 fivefold and then rents out to a another Luxury Brand shop leaving with no place to do business and no place to find lunch…

    Tourism profits have essentially become a tax on everybody else….that's just how it has unfolded in Hong Kong, no offense…

    However, the best part of this story is yet to come. Now that shop rents have gone sky high, businesses have been forced out to make way for luxury shops, and our sense of community has been erased in the name of profiteering and greediness…

    The Mainland authorities have already drastically reduced taxes on many imported goods, including many luxury items, and have announced further reductions next year in an effort to boost domestic consumption. Once that happens, the shopping trip to Hong Kong will look less attractive, and mainlanders will buy less and less opting to make their purchase at home if its only for a few percent more.

    Don't forget, the tax on the midland does not have to be on equilibrium with Hong Kong to be cost effective, because the overhead associated with rents ads 10-15% sometimes more to the cost of retail items. The is why LV bags sold in California with a 9.25% sales tax are still cheaper than Hong Kong's "duty free" port price.

    Stay tuned folks!
    Last edited by packy_crusher; 28-09-2012 at 12:01 PM.
    Gatts, virago, Azuremain and 4 others like this.

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