Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

The upcoming Dragon Boat Festival is poised to potentially increase tourism in Hong Kong. According to a report by local media outlet RTHK, the Immigration Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region anticipates that more than 3 million people will cross the city's borders during the holiday period this year. 

A portion of this movement is expected to occur between residents of the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. An anticipated increase in travel provides an opportunity to observe the ongoing economic integration between the mainland and Hong Kong.

The mainland stands as the largest source market for visitors to Hong Kong. According to the Xinhua News Agency, citing figures from the Hong Kong Tourism Board, there were 34 million visits from the mainland last year, a 27-percent increase year-on-year and accounting for about three-quarters of all visits to Hong Kong. The influx of mainland tourists has provided opportunities for both the tourism sector and the broader consumer industry in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, regarded as a "shopper's paradise" by some visitors, offers a diverse shopping experience, from unique boutiques featuring contemporary crafts and fashion by local designers to the latest in luxury brands. The city presents a multifaceted consumer supply, with its consumption potential constantly being explored and expanded. For instance, in June 2024, the Chinese government announced an increase in the duty-free shopping quota for mainland visitors to Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Such measures are anticipated to enrich the shopping experience for mainland visitors and stimulate tourism-related consumption in the city.

As economic cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong strengthens, along with the integrated development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, consumer-related measures are likely to further unlock the potential of Hong Kong's consumer market. This aims to better align Hong Kong's high-quality consumer offerings with the consumption demands of mainland tourists. 

Alongside this, the consumption potential of Hong Kong tourists traveling to the mainland also deserves attention. Hong Kong residents also have a strong demand for travel. According to a report by the China News Service in April, within a five-day period from the eve of the Easter holiday (April 17-21) the number of Hong Kong residents traveling to the mainland reached 2.13 million, a 9-percent year-on-year increase. During the May Day holidays, data from WeChat Pay showed that the number of transactions and the total spending by Hong Kong residents traveling to the mainland doubled year-on-year, according to a report by China Youth Daily.

According to forecasts by the Asia Tourism Exchange Center, the total number of trips made by Hong Kong residents to the Chinese mainland in 2025 is expected to exceed 90 million, surpassing pre-pandemic levels and setting a new record. 

Why are some Hong Kong residents drawn to shopping in the mainland? Some experts believe the rapid development of the mainland's consumer market has caught the attention of Hong Kong shoppers, who are attracted by the wide variety of options and more attractive prices. Additionally, improved transportation links have made it easier for Hong Kong residents to shop in the mainland.

A series of measures have been introduced in recent years to continuously optimize services, streamline processes and facilitate Hong Kong residents' travel to the mainland. For instance, according to Xinhua, starting from March 20, temporary passes have been issued to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents traveling to the mainland, along with a "dual certificate linkage" verification service for mainland travel permits and residence permits. These efforts demonstrate the commitment to ensuring smoother travel experiences for Hong Kong residents to the mainland.

The ongoing economic exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong, coupled with increasingly integrated transportation networks and measures to facilitate travel, are expected to bolster people-to-people exchanges and create more opportunities for consumption. This "consumption dividend" becomes particularly evident during holiday periods, manifested through tourism. The upcoming Dragon Boat Festival presents an opportunity to observe the growing "consumption dividend" that accompanies the continuous integration of the mainland and Hong Kong economies. 

There is still more work to be done to overcome the current challenges. How to further drive an increase in consumption presents a common area of interest not only for the tourism sector but also for the broader consumer industry, with the anticipated consumption dividend poised to inject more vitality into the economy.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn