HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s luxury retailers are adapting to fewer wealthy Chinese shoppers visiting the city and a shift towards tourists flocking to Instagram-coveted spots in trendy districts rather than splashing out on pricey branded gear.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Special Administrative Region of China had bucked global trends of declining demand for multi-brand department stores and ultra-luxury brands largely due to its attractiveness to high-spending mainland visitors.

But the rise of competing shopping hubs like China’s Hainan island, changing consumer preferences and a rise in online shopping have fundamentally changed demand for luxury goods in Hong Kong and are starting to reshape the city’s visitor economy, according to industry experts.

“The focus of visitors in Hong Kong has shifted from ‘shop till you drop’ to a greater desire for local culture and experience-based touring,” said Ms Rosanna Tang, an executive director at Cushman & Wakefield.

Overnight and same-day visitor shopping spend was at 55 per cent and 18 per cent of 2018 levels respectively in the first half of the year, said Ms Tang, prompting retailers to focus more on food and beverage outlets.

British luxury department store Harvey Nichols is at the forefront of the changes. Its owner, Dickson Concepts, said in November it would give up its lease on its flagship five-level store in the upscale Landmark mall in the city’s centre after almost two decades.

“Chinese tourists coming to Hong Kong are no longer focused on shopping as they used to be before the pandemic,” the company said in a statement.

There are also fewer visitors, with arrivals recovering to just 60 per cent of the levels in 2018, before anti-government protests in 2019 and stringent rules during the pandemic.

Hong Kong’s total retail sales are down about 20 per cent from 2018 levels and in an effort to reduce the reliance on luxury spending by Chinese shoppers, the government and tourism sector are trying to woo visitors to nature and leisure attractions.

Business chambers and companies are also trying to rebuild ties between the West and Hong Kong after Beijing’s imposition of a national security law in 2020 and draconian Covid-19 rules prompted an exodus of tens of thousands of people.

The government said in December that it is developing several projects from large-scale festivals to green tourism in the outlying islands and the creation of a hiking hub.

It remains unclear how effective that strategy will be to lure back spending. Luxury hotel occupancy is strong but on the back of the return of business travellers.

Harvey Nichols’ closure comes after brands including Valentino, Burberry and LVMH’s Tiffany shut some of their stores in Hong Kong, where retail rents are the highest in Asia despite having dropped about 40 per cent since 2019.

Still bets on future

Despite the closures, Hong Kong reclaimed its position as No. 1 in per-capita spending on luxury goods in 2023, ahead of Switzerland and Singapore, said Euromonitor International, which expects the city to recover to its pre-pandemic personal luxury goods sales levels by the middle of 2024.

Snarled traffic has returned across commercial districts after a three-year lull, while drinkers and revellers are trickling back into the city’s bar districts.

Things will improve in the luxury sector, said Ms Caroline Reyl, head of premium brands at Pictet Asset Management, which owns shares of LVMH, but it will likely be challenging to return to previous levels due to competition from China’s Hainan island.

“There was probably some over-distribution in the past,” she added, meaning that major luxury labels over-saturated Hong Kong with their stores. “As some luxury brands have reduced their exposure to Hong Kong, that space will be filled by other brands.”

LVMH-owned Louis Vuitton is among those betting on the city’s future prospects.

Even as stores remain quiet, Louis Vuitton held a star-studded fashion show alongside Hong Kong’s harbour in November to signify a luxury renaissance in the former British colony.

Chanel opened a new flashy two-storey retail space in Causeway Bay in 2023, while De Beers and LVMH’s Bulgari both opened flagship stores in the popular Tsim Sha Tsui district.

Property developer Hongkong Land, owner of the Landmark mall being vacated by Harvey Nichols, said tenant sales and footfall in its city centre malls have returned to pre-pandemic levels.

On a recent visit to the Landmark, crowds packed restaurants and thronged the festive display areas in the lobby. Few, however, were shopping for designer gear.

“It’s a true shame that Harvey Nichols is leaving Landmark, but the fact of the matter is that they really have no business,” said 67-year-old Sarah Ng, who was walking through the mall.

“It’s so high-end, but they have no customers.” REUTERS